What Strata Committee Members Can (and Can't) Do — A Plain-English Guide for 2026
If you live in a strata building, your strata committee makes decisions that directly affect your finances, your lifestyle and the value of your home. Yet most owners have only a vague understanding of what the committee is actually empowered to do — and where those powers end.
With the Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (NSW) now rolling out in stages, committee duties have been significantly expanded and codified. Here's a plain-English breakdown of the new landscape.
What Is a Strata Committee?
The strata committee (sometimes called the executive committee or body corporate committee) is a group of lot owners elected at the Annual General Meeting. In NSW, a committee can have up to nine members, and they act as the day-to-day decision-making body on behalf of the owners corporation between general meetings.
Think of them as the building's board of directors — but with important legal constraints.
What the Committee CAN Do
Day-to-Day Management Decisions
The committee can make decisions about routine operational matters without going back to all owners at a general meeting. This includes:
- Approving minor repairs and maintenance up to a spending threshold set at the AGM
- Engaging contractors for routine services like cleaning, gardening and pest control
- Managing the building's strata manager relationship
- Handling insurance renewals (within existing policy parameters)
- Responding to maintenance requests from lot owners
- Managing common property access and bookings (like moving lifts or function rooms)
Enforcing By-Laws
The committee has the authority to issue notices to lot owners or occupiers who breach by-laws. This can include noise breaches, unauthorised renovations, pet violations (where enforceable by-laws exist) and parking infringements on common property.
Minor Renovation Approvals
Under the 2025 NSW reforms, strata committees with delegated authority can now approve or refuse minor renovation requests — such as internal kitchen upgrades, flooring replacements or reconfigurations. However, there's a catch: if the committee fails to give written reasons for a refusal within three months, the renovation is automatically deemed approved.
Spending Within Approved Budgets
Committees can authorise expenditure from both the administrative fund and capital works fund, but only within the budgets approved at the AGM. They have discretion over which quotes to accept and which contractors to use, provided the total spending stays within approved limits.
What the Committee CANNOT Do
Spend Beyond Approved Budgets
The committee cannot approve spending that exceeds what was approved at the last AGM without calling an extraordinary general meeting for owner approval. Emergency repairs that are urgently necessary to protect safety are the key exception.
Pass or Change By-Laws
Only a special resolution at a general meeting can create, amend or repeal by-laws. The committee cannot unilaterally create new rules, no matter how sensible they seem. If your committee tells you they've "decided" a new rule, they may be overstepping their authority.
Make Major Alterations to Common Property
Any significant changes to common property — such as structural alterations, adding a new facility or changing the building's appearance — require a special resolution at a general meeting. The committee can recommend these changes, but not approve them alone.
Override an Owner's Rights
Committee members cannot use their position to prevent an owner from exercising their legal rights, such as accessing common property records, requesting meetings or lodging disputes with the tribunal.
Act in Their Own Interest
Under the 2025 reforms, committee members now have explicit statutory duties to act honestly, fairly and in the best interests of the owners corporation. They must exercise due care and diligence, and they must not use information obtained in their role for personal benefit.
The 2025 Reforms: What Changed
The Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 introduced several important changes to committee powers and duties:
| Reform | What It Means | When It Started |
|---|---|---|
| Statutory duty of care | Committee members must act honestly, fairly, with due care and diligence | 1 July 2025 |
| Mandatory training | Committee members must complete prescribed training or face removal | Later in 2026 (TBA) |
| Meeting conduct rules | Chairs must follow agendas, maintain order and encourage constructive discussion | 1 July 2025 |
| Minor renovation deemed approval | Failure to respond to renovation requests within 3 months = automatic approval | 1 July 2025 |
| Easier officer removal | Chair, secretary or treasurer can now be removed by ordinary resolution (not special) | 1 July 2025 |
| Section 106 enforcement | NSW Fair Trading can now investigate and enforce the duty to repair common property | 27 October 2025 |
| Extended limitation period | Owners have 6 years (up from 2) to claim damages for failure to maintain common property | 1 July 2025 |
The Mandatory Training Requirement
Perhaps the most significant upcoming change is mandatory committee training, scheduled for later in 2026. Once in effect, all strata committee members will need to complete prescribed training to remain on the committee. If a member fails to complete training after being given notice, they can be removed.
This reform was introduced to address a widespread concern: many committee members make consequential decisions about multimillion-dollar assets with no formal understanding of their responsibilities or the legislation.
Common Areas of Confusion
"The committee decided to ban XYZ"
Unless there's an existing by-law that covers the behaviour, the committee can't "ban" anything. They can enforce existing by-laws, and they can propose new ones for a vote at a general meeting — but they can't invent rules on the fly.
"The committee won't show us the finances"
Under NSW law, owners have a right to inspect the records of the owners corporation, including financial statements, meeting minutes and contracts. From October 2025, NSW Fair Trading has enhanced enforcement powers to ensure compliance with these access rights.
"Our committee member is also a real estate agent in the building"
Conflicts of interest are a real issue. Under the 2025 reforms, committee members must not use information obtained in their role for personal gain. Any pecuniary interest in a matter being discussed should be disclosed, and the member should abstain from voting on that matter.
Tips for Owners
If you want your committee to function well, the single most important thing you can do is attend your AGM. Committees that operate without oversight tend to drift — either becoming too passive (deferring maintenance to keep levies low) or too assertive (making decisions that should go to a general meeting).
Beyond attending meetings, you can request to see the minutes of committee meetings, review the financial statements before the AGM, and ask questions about any decisions that seem unusual or outside the committee's authority.
How UnitBuddy Helps
UnitBuddy's building wellness tools give you visibility into your building's governance, financial health and maintenance activity — so you can hold your committee accountable with data, not just instinct.
Your strata committee works for you, not the other way around. The 2025 reforms have raised the bar for committee conduct. If your committee isn't meeting that bar, you now have stronger tools to do something about it.