What Strata Committee Members Can (and Can't) Do: A Plain-English Guide for 2026

Across Australia

The committee's name and authority change by state. NSW has strata committees. Victoria and the ACT have owners corporation committees. Queensland has body corporate committees. WA has council of owners arrangements for many strata companies. SA, Tasmania and NT use their own corporation or body corporate structures.

The safe question is the same in every state: is this a day-to-day decision the committee can make, or does it need an owners corporation, body corporate, strata company or corporation vote?

First things first

• Committees run day-to-day administration; owners corporations make the big calls.
• Most disputes come from committees mistaking convenience for authority.
• Good committees minute decisions, disclose conflicts, and know when to send a matter to owners.

Committee power is practical, not unlimited. The useful line is between day-to-day administration and decisions that properly belong to all owners.

Your strata committee makes decisions that affect your finances, daily life and the value of your home. Many owners do not know where the committee's authority ends.

The Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (NSW) is rolling out in stages and changes some committee duties. Those duties are easier to follow when committee decisions are separated from decisions that require a general meeting.

A committee needs to know what it can decide alone and what must go to a general meeting. Drawing that line in the wrong place causes many of the problems covered in our guide to strata committee governance.

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.

It is similar to a building's board of directors, but its authority comes from strata law and resolutions passed by owners.

What the committee can do

1. 01
   Matter lands at committee
2. 02
   Within approved budget and scope?
3. 03
   Existing by-law covers it?
4. 04
   Routine admin or major change?
5. 05
   Major change goes to owners
6. 06
   Minute the decision either way

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 approve or refuse minor renovation requests such as internal kitchen upgrades, flooring replacements or reconfigurations. If the committee refuses a request but does not give written reasons 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.

Admin fund

• Insurance38%
• Management22%
• Utilities18%
• Cleaning12%
• Other10%

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.

What changed in the 2025 reforms

The Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 changed several 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

Mandatory committee training is scheduled for later in 2026. Once it takes effect, all strata committee members will need to complete prescribed training to remain on the committee. A member who fails to complete the training after receiving notice 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.

• Money78
• Maintenance52
• Compliance70
• Records86
• Participation44

Tips for owners

Attend your AGM if you want to understand and influence how the committee works. Committees with little owner oversight can become too passive, deferring maintenance to keep levies low, or make 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 supports the work

UnitBuddy's building wellness tools show governance, financial health and maintenance activity together, giving owners records they can use when questioning committee decisions.

Sources and further reading

• NSW Government: changes to strata laws
• NSW Government: guide to strata law changes for committees and owners
• NSW: Can a strata committee spend levies on maintenance outside common property?, via LookUpStrata
• VIC: Building Better Strata Committees, via LookUpStrata

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