How to Self-Manage an Owners Corporation in Victoria: Tiers, Volunteer Managers and the Steps

The short answer

• Tiers 2 to 5 (100 lots or fewer) can choose whether to appoint a manager (s 119(1C)).
• Tier 1 (over 100 lots) must appoint a manager unless the owners opt out by special resolution (s 119(1)–(1A)).
• A volunteer can be the manager. Only someone paid "a fee or reward" has to be a registered manager (s 119(2)). An owner who does the job unpaid doesn't.
• Self-managing doesn't remove any obligations. The owners corporation still has to insure, keep records, hold an AGM, issue fee notices on the approved forms and, at tiers 1 and 2, keep a maintenance plan. The committee does the work instead of a manager.
• When a manager leaves, they must return all records to the secretary within 28 days (s 127).

Which tier are you?

Tiers are set by the number of occupiable lots (s 7).

What your tier must do when self-managed

A committee is required once the owners corporation affects 10 or more lots. That's every scheme in tiers 1 to 3. Tier 5 owners corporations are exempt from most obligations, including the insurance sections (s 7A). They can still choose to insure.

The volunteer manager

A self-managed owners corporation doesn't have to have anyone called a "manager". The committee chair and secretary can share the work. Some owners corporations appoint an owner as an unpaid manager to give one person clear responsibility.

The rules for that person:

• No registration while unpaid. Only a manager who receives "a fee or reward" must be registered (s 119(2)). Acting as a manager for a fee without registration is an offence (s 178), so paying the volunteer changes everything. Get advice before offering even a small honorarium.
• Protection for good-faith work. A member who acts as manager without a fee or reward isn't personally liable for things done in good faith (s 123).
• No professional indemnity insurance needed. That's only required for paid managers (s 119(5)).
• No training requirement. The Act sets none for committee members or volunteer managers. The new education rules for managers apply only to paid, registered managers. Existing managers have until 30 June 2027 to complete them.
• No lot-count limit. The Act doesn't cap the size of scheme a volunteer can manage. At tier 1, the owners corporation must first opt out of the paid-manager requirement.

What a self-managed owners corporation does each year

Money

• Budget and fees. The proposed budget goes out with the AGM notice (s 72). The AGM deals with the fees fixed (s 71). Annual fees are shared by lot liability (s 23(3)). Insurance premiums are shared by lot entitlement (s 23A).
• Maintenance fund. If you have an approved maintenance plan, annual fees must include enough to carry it out (s 23(2)). The fund must be in the owners corporation's name (s 40).
• Bank account. Every account must be in the name of the owners corporation (s 27). Don't run the building's money through an owner's personal account.
• Fee notices. Use the approved form. Owners have 28 days to pay (s 31). If they don't, a final fee notice is the next step (s 32). VCAT recovery is only available 28 days after that.
• Interest on late fees. Only if a general meeting has authorised it (s 29).

Meetings

For the full AGM checklist and a notice template, see our Victorian AGM guide.

• AGM. Hold one in any year the owners corporation receives or pays out money, with no more than 15 months between AGMs (s 69).
• Notice. Give at least 14 days' notice, with the financial statements, proposed budget and previous minutes (s 72).
• Quorum. 50% of lots (s 77). Without a quorum, the meeting can still pass interim resolutions, which take effect after 29 days unless they are challenged (s 78).
• Proxies. Proxies use the prescribed form and lapse after 12 months (s 89C). In schemes with more than 20 occupiable lots, one person can hold proxies for no more than 5% of the lot owners (s 89D).
• Committee report. The committee must report on its activities at the AGM (s 115).

Insurance

• Reinstatement and replacement insurance for buildings on common property (s 59).
• Public liability insurance of at least $20 million (s 60).
• A building valuation at least every 5 years, with the valuer's report going to the next general meeting (s 65).

Records and admin

• Keep the records listed in s 144. Most must be kept for at least 7 years. Proxies and voting papers can be disposed of after 12 months (s 145).
• Keep the owners corporation register up to date (ss 147–148).
• Without a manager, keep a letterbox and a sign showing the owners corporation's postal address (Regulations reg 22). It can be an owner's letterbox.
• Disputes go through the grievance process in your rules first. If your rules don't have one, the model rules apply, and they require a meeting of the parties within 28 days of a complaint (model rule 7).

Leaving your manager: step by step

1. Check your tier. At tier 1, owners must first pass a special resolution to opt out of the manager requirement (s 119(1A)).
2. Read the contract. A contract can't require 3 months' notice or more at tiers 1 and 2, or 1 month or more at tiers 3 to 5 (s 119A). Automatic renewal terms are banned. A contract that isn't renewed can be ended on one month's notice (s 119A(2)).
3. Revoke the appointment. "An owners corporation may revoke the appointment of a manager" (s 119(6)). The Act doesn't set a special majority, and a contract term requiring a special resolution or general meeting is banned (s 119A). A proxy who isn't an owner can't vote on removing the manager if the matter affects them (s 89C(7)).
4. Fill the roles. Make sure the committee has a chair and secretary. Decide whether one owner will act as an unpaid manager.
5. Get the records back. The manager must return all records to the secretary within 28 days of the appointment ending (s 127). If there's no secretary, they go to the chair (s 99(3)). Send the manager a list of what you expect to receive.
6. Move the money. Open or confirm bank accounts in the owners corporation's name (s 27). Get a closing statement for any money the manager held on trust (s 122).
7. Update the register. Remove the manager's details from the owners corporation register (s 148). Put up the letterbox and sign.
8. Set the calendar. Add the AGM, insurance renewal, valuation date, fee notice dates and maintenance plan reviews.

Common questions

Do we have to register the owners corporation with Consumer Affairs Victoria?

No. There's no registration or annual return for owners corporations under the Act. Only registered managers lodge annual statements (s 183). The ATO may have its own requirements, such as an ABN or tax return, so check with the ATO.

Can we pay an owner a small amount to manage?

Only if they're a registered manager. Anyone acting as a manager "for fee or reward" must be registered (s 178).

What resolution do we need to sack the manager?

An ordinary resolution, unless you're at tier 1 and also need to opt out of the manager requirement. That takes a special resolution.

Do committee members need training?

Not under the current Act or Regulations. Committee members must act honestly, in good faith and with due care and diligence (s 117).

Where UnitBuddy fits

A self-managed owners corporation depends on whoever holds the records. UnitBuddy keeps them in a workspace the owners corporation owns: minutes, documents, fee history and decisions. When the secretary changes, the next one gets a login, not a box of files. Notices go to the lots that need them, with read receipts.

Further reading

Keep the scheme file in one place the committee and the manager can both open. Features, pricing, or book a tour.