Australian Strata Terminology: A State-by-State Reference
Australian apartment ownership is governed by eight separate state and territory regimes, and each one has built up its own vocabulary over forty-plus years of legislation. The result is that the same concept (the legal entity that owns common property, the body that runs the scheme, the document a buyer reads before settlement) wears a different name in NSW than it does in Queensland, Victoria, WA or anywhere else.
For owners, committee members, buyers and sellers, this is more than a curiosity. Reading a strata report from a building in another state, comparing schemes across borders, helping a relative buy interstate, or moving between scheme types within the same state: all of these require a working translation between vocabularies.
This guide is the reference. It maps every major term used in Australian strata across all eight jurisdictions, with the practical context you need to read documents written in any one of them.
Why the terminology varies
Each Australian state and territory legislates its own strata regime. NSW updated its strata laws in 2015 (with major reforms again in 2025–2026). Victoria operates under the Owners Corporations Act 2006 (currently under review). Queensland uses the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997. Western Australia's Strata Titles Act dates from 1985 with substantial 2018 amendments. South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory each have their own framework.
Because the legislation evolved separately, the terminology evolved separately. The underlying concepts are remarkably consistent: every regime has a legal entity for shared ownership, a smaller elected body for day-to-day decisions, a fund split between operating and long-term costs, by-laws or rules, and a tribunal for disputes. But the names are not.
The reform direction across Australia is also gradually pulling the regimes closer together. The 2026 NSW reforms borrow ideas Queensland and Victoria have used for years. Victoria's review may pick up NSW's standard-form capital works plan. The terminology will diverge for the foreseeable future, but the underlying mechanics are converging.
The legal entity that owns common property
Every strata scheme has a legal entity that holds common property and runs the scheme. The name varies sharply.
| State | Legal entity name |
|---|---|
| New South Wales | Owners corporation |
| Victoria | Owners corporation |
| Queensland | Body corporate |
| Western Australia | Strata company |
| South Australia | Strata corporation (strata title) or community corporation (community title) |
| Tasmania | Body corporate |
| Australian Capital Territory | Owners corporation |
| Northern Territory | Body corporate |
The entity is formed automatically when the strata plan or unit plan is registered. Every lot owner becomes a member by default; there is no opt-in. The entity holds insurance, owns the common property, sues and is sued, and is the party that contracts with strata managers, building managers and most service providers.
When a NSW document refers to "the owners corporation" and a Queensland document refers to "the body corporate", they are describing the same kind of legal entity in different states.
The elected committee that runs day-to-day decisions
Each scheme elects a smaller body to handle routine decisions between general meetings of all owners.
| State | Committee name |
|---|---|
| New South Wales | Strata committee |
| Victoria | Committee (of the owners corporation) |
| Queensland | Committee (of the body corporate) |
| Western Australia | Council of owners |
| South Australia | Management committee (community titles); strata corporation may operate without a formal committee |
| Tasmania | Body corporate committee |
| Australian Capital Territory | Executive committee |
| Northern Territory | Body corporate committee |
The maximum committee size, term length, and election process differ by state, but the core function is consistent everywhere: the committee makes operational decisions, but anything that materially affects owners' rights, finances, or property must go to a general meeting.
The owners themselves
The terminology for an individual owner also varies, particularly in older legislation.
- NSW, VIC, QLD: lot owner (sometimes "the owner of a lot").
- WA: lot owner or proprietor (older term still in use in some contexts).
- SA, TAS, ACT, NT: unit owner or proprietor, depending on the legislation generation.
In practice, "lot owner" is the most common modern term across Australia. "Proprietor" persists in WA and some older documents elsewhere.
The two funds
Every Australian strata scheme operates with two funds: one for ordinary year-to-year operating costs, the other for long-term capital expenditure. The names diverge widely.
| State | Operating fund | Long-term fund |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | Administrative fund | Capital works fund |
| VIC | Maintenance fund (operating) | Maintenance plan fund |
| QLD | Administrative fund | Sinking fund |
| WA | Administrative fund | Reserve fund |
| SA | Administrative fund | Sinking fund |
| TAS | Administrative fund | Sinking fund |
| ACT | Administrative fund | Sinking fund |
| NT | Administrative fund | Sinking fund |
NSW changed the formal name from "sinking fund" to "capital works fund" in 2016, but most owners and many practitioners still use the older term. The mechanics are identical regardless of name.
Levies, contributions, and fees
The money owners pay to fund the scheme has its own vocabulary.
- NSW, ACT: levies (administrative fund levy and capital works fund levy).
- VIC: fees (annual fees) and special fees.
- QLD: contributions (administrative and sinking fund contributions).
- WA: contributions or levies, depending on the document.
- SA, TAS, NT: contributions or levies.
The most universally understood term is "levy", and most schemes use it informally regardless of the formal legislative term.
A "special levy" (or "special contribution" in some states) is the same thing across all jurisdictions: an additional one-off contribution raised to cover an unbudgeted expense, typically a major capital item the long-term fund cannot cover.
How each owner's share is calculated
Each lot is allocated a share of the scheme. That share determines voting rights, levy contribution, and distribution of insurance proceeds.
| State | Share term |
|---|---|
| New South Wales | Unit entitlement |
| Victoria | Lot liability (for fees) and lot entitlement (for voting) |
| Queensland | Contribution schedule lot entitlement (for fees) and interest schedule lot entitlement (for voting and insurance) |
| Western Australia | Unit entitlement |
| South Australia | Unit entitlement (strata) or lot entitlement (community title) |
| Tasmania | Unit entitlement |
| Australian Capital Territory | Unit entitlement |
| Northern Territory | Unit entitlement |
Victoria and Queensland are the outliers: both split the share into separate components for fees and for voting, which can produce different numbers for the same lot. NSW, WA and most other jurisdictions use a single unit entitlement for all purposes.
By-laws and rules
The internal rules of a scheme (covering pets, noise, parking, renovations, common-area conduct) are set by the scheme itself.
- NSW, ACT: by-laws.
- VIC: rules (formal owners corporation rules).
- QLD: by-laws.
- WA: by-laws (Schedule 1 standard by-laws plus any scheme-specific by-laws under Schedule 2).
- SA: by-laws (or articles, in some older community title documents).
- TAS: by-laws.
- NT: by-laws.
The mechanics are similar in every state: the standard set provided by the legislation applies by default, and the scheme can adopt, amend or repeal scheme-specific by-laws by special resolution at a general meeting.
The disclosure document at sale
Every state requires a formal scheme document to be made available to a buyer. The names vary.
| State | Disclosure document |
|---|---|
| New South Wales | Section 184 certificate (under SSMA) |
| Victoria | Owners corporation certificate (Section 151) plus Section 32 vendor statement |
| Queensland | Body corporate disclosure statement and body corporate information certificate |
| Western Australia | Form 28 certificate; Section 17 disclosure for off-the-plan |
| South Australia | Form 1 vendor disclosure; strata corporation certificate |
| Tasmania | Body corporate certificate |
| Australian Capital Territory | Section 119 certificate |
| Northern Territory | Body corporate certificate |
The 1 April 2026 NSW reforms substantially expanded the Section 184 certificate to include embedded networks, compliance orders against the owners corporation, and meeting history for the previous 12 months. Other states are watching this expansion closely, and similar reforms are likely to follow over the next 18–36 months.
The tribunal that hears strata disputes
Each state has a civil and administrative tribunal (or equivalent) that handles strata matters.
| State | Tribunal |
|---|---|
| New South Wales | NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) |
| Victoria | Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) |
| Queensland | Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management (BCCM), then QCAT |
| Western Australia | State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) |
| South Australia | South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) |
| Tasmania | Resource Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal, or the Magistrates Court for some matters |
| Australian Capital Territory | ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) |
| Northern Territory | Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NTCAT) |
Queensland is the structural outlier: most disputes are first heard by the Commissioner before progressing to QCAT. Other states route directly to their tribunal, often after a mediation step.
The governing legislation
For practitioners and owners doing legal research, knowing the right Act is essential.
| State | Primary Act |
|---|---|
| New South Wales | Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (and Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 for plan creation) |
| Victoria | Owners Corporations Act 2006 |
| Queensland | Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 |
| Western Australia | Strata Titles Act 1985 (substantially amended 2018) |
| South Australia | Strata Titles Act 1988 and Community Titles Act 1996 |
| Tasmania | Strata Titles Act 1998 |
| Australian Capital Territory | Unit Titles (Management) Act 2011 |
| Northern Territory | Unit Titles Schemes Act 2009 and Unit Title Act 1975 (older schemes) |
The strata report (or its equivalent)
The buyer's pre-purchase inspection of scheme records is also called different things.
- NSW, VIC, QLD, ACT: strata report (commonly), or strata search.
- WA: strata search or strata inspection report.
- SA: strata or community corporation search.
- TAS, NT: body corporate records inspection.
The substance is the same in every state: a third-party search company physically reviews the scheme's records (financial statements, minutes, by-laws, contracts, insurance, capital works plan) and produces a written summary for the buyer. Reports vary widely in quality, and a buyer should always commission their own rather than relying on the seller's.
A note on terminology that crosses jurisdictions
Three terms appear in almost every Australian strata document regardless of state.
Common property. The shared parts of a building (lobbies, lifts, stairwells, gardens, pools, façades, roofs) that are owned by the legal entity, not by individual owners. The definition is consistent across states, even though the surrounding terminology differs.
Lot. The privately owned portion of a strata scheme. Almost universally used; the only common alternative is "unit" (in some older WA and territory contexts).
Strata manager. The contracted professional who administers the scheme on the legal entity's behalf. Some Queensland documents use "body corporate manager"; the function is identical.
Why this matters when reading documents from another state
The most common practical situation where this terminology matters:
- Buying interstate. A NSW resident buying an apartment in Brisbane will encounter "body corporate", "sinking fund", "contribution schedule lot entitlement" and "Commissioner for BCCM", none of which appear in NSW documents. Without translation, the disclosure documents are harder to read.
- Helping family. Many committee members serve on schemes in their home state but help relatives navigate purchases in others. The terminology gap is real.
- Comparing schemes for due diligence. Cross-border comparisons require translation between vocabularies before any meaningful comparison can be made.
- Reading legal advice. Legal opinions cite sections of the relevant state Act. Knowing which Act applies is the first step to understanding the advice.
The good news is that once you have the cross-reference table, the underlying concepts are consistent enough that a reader fluent in one state's vocabulary can read documents from any other state without much friction.
How UnitBuddy handles state differences
UnitBuddy's compliance and reporting tools are state-aware. The platform knows that a NSW scheme reports through Strata Hub, a Queensland scheme operates under the BCCM Act with sinking fund forecasts of at least nine years, and a WA scheme uses a 10-year reserve fund plan under the 2018 amendments. State-specific reminders, terminology, and templates appear automatically based on the scheme's jurisdiction, so committee members don't need to translate every document themselves.
For schemes with members or owners in multiple states (common for committees serving owners who hold interstate apartments, or for portfolio investors), the cross-state view means one platform covers everything rather than one tool per state.
See how the platform handles state-specific scheme administration · Get started
Related reading
- Strata Finance & Levies pillar guide: how the funds work, regardless of name
- Committee Governance pillar guide: how committees operate across all 8 jurisdictions
- Buying & Selling Strata Apartments: the disclosure document set in every state
- How to Read Your Strata Levy Notice
Further reading
- What is Strata? — via LookUpStrata
- Glossary of NSW Strata Terms and Jargon — via LookUpStrata
Last updated: 5 May 2026. UnitBuddy publishes general information for Australian strata owners and committees. It is not legal advice. For advice specific to your scheme or a cross-border matter, consult a strata lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction.