Strata Committee Governance in Australia: A Plain-English Guide for 2026

Strata committees hold real power. They approve maintenance, sign contracts on behalf of every owner, set the agenda for meetings, decide which disputes go to tribunal, and influence (sometimes determine) whether a building runs well or quietly fails. In most Australian buildings, that power is exercised by three to seven volunteers who took the role because no one else would.

This guide is the complete reference for the people who actually do the work: committee members, secretaries, chairs, treasurers, and the owners who keep them accountable. It covers how committees are elected, what they can and cannot do, how meetings should be run, when proxy voting becomes a problem, how to remove a committee member who has gone off the rails, and what is changing in 2026.

It is written for committee members and owners, not for strata managers. The strata manager works for the committee, not the other way around. Most software in this market gets that the wrong way round; we have written this guide accordingly.

How to use this guide

If you are new to a committee, read top to bottom. The structure mirrors the order in which questions actually come up in your first year. If you are an experienced committee member or an owner trying to navigate a dispute, skim the table of contents and click into the section you need. Each section gives you a working understanding then points to the deep-dive article for full detail.

If your building's committee feels disorganised, contested, or under-informed, that is exactly the problem UnitBuddy was built to solve: a persistent record of decisions, money, maintenance, and owner correspondence so the committee carries institutional memory across handovers instead of starting from scratch every year. Take a look once you have read what good governance looks like.

What a strata committee actually is
Committee powers and limits
Office bearers: chair, secretary, treasurer
General meetings vs committee meetings
The AGM: the most important day of the year
Voting, proxies, and how decisions get made
When things go wrong: removing a committee member
The 2026 reforms: what is changing
State-by-state quick reference
Tools and templates for committees

What a strata committee actually is

A strata committee (or in some states, executive committee or council of owners) is the elected body of lot owners (and in some cases their nominees) that carries out the day-to-day decisions of the owners corporation. The committee is not a separate legal entity; it acts as an agent of the owners corporation and is bound by its decisions.

The legal structure is consistent across Australia even where the names differ:

The owners corporation is the legal entity formed automatically when a strata scheme is registered
Every lot owner is automatically a member of the owners corporation
The committee is a smaller group elected from the membership at each AGM
The strata manager (if appointed) is a contractor working for the owners corporation, under the direction of the committee

What this means in practice: the committee makes operational decisions, but anything that significantly affects owners' rights, finances, or property must go to a general meeting of all owners. Drawing the line correctly between "committee decision" and "general meeting decision" is the most important single skill in strata governance, and one of the most common sources of disputes when committees overreach.

Committee powers and limits

Strata legislation in every Australian state gives committees a defined set of powers, and an equally defined set of restrictions on what they cannot do without the wider owners corporation's approval.

What committees can generally do without going to a general meeting:

Spend money up to the limits set in the budget approved at the last AGM
Approve routine maintenance and repairs to common property
Engage and direct contractors for ordinary work
Issue notices to owners about by-law breaches
Set meeting agendas and call general meetings
Appoint sub-committees and delegate specific tasks

What committees generally cannot do without a general meeting resolution:

Approve major capital works or expenditure beyond the approved budget
Make, change, or repeal by-laws
Take legal action that exposes the owners corporation to material cost
Sell or grant rights over common property
Borrow money on behalf of the owners corporation
Sign management contracts (in most states, requires general meeting approval)

The boundary is set by both the legislation and the by-laws of the specific scheme. Some buildings have by-laws that explicitly delegate certain decisions to the committee; others restrict committee authority more tightly than the default Act.

The structural failure mode in Australian strata is not committees that are too cautious. It is committees that quietly extend their own authority over time, often guided by a strata manager who finds it easier to deal with three people than thirty. Owners who want to push back have specific tools available, including motions to general meetings and applications to tribunal.

Office bearers: chair, secretary, treasurer

Strata legislation in most states designates three formal office bearer roles:

Chair (or chairperson): runs meetings, sets the meeting culture, signs minutes
Secretary: handles correspondence, prepares notices, maintains records
Treasurer: oversees financial reporting, monitors fund balances, presents the budget

In buildings with a strata manager, much of the operational work for these roles is delegated to the manager, but the legal accountability remains with the office bearer. A treasurer who signs off on financial statements they have not actually read is still accountable for what those statements contain.

The 2025 NSW reforms tightened expectations on office bearers significantly, including new disclosure obligations and clearer accountability for financial oversight. The mandatory committee training framework being rolled out from 2026 is designed in part to ensure office bearers understand the role they have signed up for.

In practice, the treasurer role is the one most often filled badly, usually by someone who agreed to take it on without realising the time and expertise involved. UnitBuddy was built in part to make the treasurer's job tractable: financial summaries, fund trajectories, variance against budget, and a permanent ledger of every transaction without needing to be a strata accounting specialist. See how the financials view works.

General meetings vs committee meetings

Strata law distinguishes between two kinds of meeting, and the distinction matters:

General meetings are meetings of all lot owners, called to make decisions that affect the owners corporation as a whole. There are two types:

Annual General Meeting (AGM): required once a year, with a defined agenda including budget approval, committee election, and presentation of accounts
Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM): called when something cannot wait for the next AGM

Committee meetings are meetings of the elected committee, called to handle the operational decisions delegated to the committee.

Both types of meeting have notice requirements, quorum rules, voting procedures, and minute-taking obligations defined by legislation. Committee meetings are generally less formal than general meetings but still subject to procedural rules, and committee minutes are accessible to all owners on request.

A committee that takes substantive decisions outside meetings, by email or by phone, is on shaky legal ground. Most jurisdictions allow some forms of out-of-meeting decision-making (electronic voting, "by signature" decisions) but the procedural requirements are specific and easily breached.

The AGM: the most important day of the year

The Annual General Meeting is the single moment in the year when the levies are not yet set, the committee is not yet elected, and the budget is not yet approved. Almost everything is negotiable. After the AGM, owners are bound by what was decided.

What the AGM must cover:

Presentation of the audited or compiled financial statements
Approval of the budget for the coming year (which sets the levies)
Election of the committee for the coming year
Approval of the insurance arrangements
Confirmation of the strata manager's continued appointment (in most states)
Any motions submitted by owners or by the committee

The window for owners to submit motions, request inclusion of items on the agenda, and lodge proxies is governed by strict notice periods that vary by state. Missing the deadline by a day means waiting another year.

For committee members, the AGM is the public-accountability moment of the year. Owners who never attend a committee meeting will attend the AGM, and the questions asked there often reveal what the broader owner body actually thinks about how the building has been run.

Voting, proxies, and how decisions get made

Strata voting is conducted in three main forms:

Show of hands: the default at meetings, one vote per lot
Poll vote: votes weighted by unit entitlement, used for financial and substantive decisions
Written proxy: votes lodged in writing by owners who cannot attend

Most decisions require a simple majority of votes cast. Some decisions (by-law changes, certain capital works, removal of an office bearer) require a special majority (75%) or in rare cases unanimous consent.

Proxy voting is the most contested part of strata governance. A single person holding multiple proxies can determine the outcome of a meeting where most owners did not attend. Proxy farming, where one party (often a strata manager, a developer, or a single ambitious owner) systematically gathers proxies to control meetings, has been the subject of major reform in recent years.

The 2025 NSW reforms introduced limits on the number of proxies any one person can hold, and tightened disclosure requirements about who is collecting proxies and why. Other states have moved or are moving in similar directions.

When things go wrong: removing a committee member

Most committees function reasonably well most of the time. The cases where they do not are often dramatic: a committee member with an undisclosed conflict, a chair refusing to call meetings, a treasurer making decisions outside their authority, or a faction operating in coordination with a strata manager against the interests of the wider owner body.

The legal mechanisms for removing a committee member vary by state but generally include:

Resolution at a general meeting (lowest threshold; usually a simple majority)
Tribunal application on specific grounds (where general meeting is blocked)
Disqualification on statutory grounds (bankruptcy, conviction, conflict of interest)

The 2025 NSW reforms made committee removal noticeably easier in cases involving misconduct, conflicts of interest, or failure to act in accordance with statutory duties. Other states have followed or are following the same direction.

A separate but related question is removing, or refusing to renew, the strata manager. This is its own substantial area of law and practice:

The 2026 reforms: what is changing

The most significant strata reform in a decade is rolling out across NSW from July 2025 through late 2026, with effects on committee governance specifically. Other states are following with varying timelines.

Key 2026 reform areas affecting governance:

Mandatory committee training (NSW, rolling out): committee members will be required to complete training, with implications for budgeting, onboarding, and member willingness to serve.
Stronger conflict of interest disclosure: committee members must disclose financial interests in matters before the committee, with material consequences for non-disclosure.
NCAT power expansion: the tribunal has new authority to vary or end management agreements, intervene in committee disputes, and order specific actions.
Strata Hub annual reporting (NSW): every NSW scheme must report defined information annually, increasing transparency for owners and prospective buyers.
Standard form 10-year capital works plan (NSW, from 1 April 2026): changes how committees approach long-term financial planning.

State-by-state quick reference

Committee governance principles are consistent across Australia. The terminology and statutory detail are not.

New South Wales

Governing law: Strata Schemes Management Act 2015. Body name: Strata committee. Office bearers: chair, secretary, treasurer. Maximum committee size: 9. Term: 1 year (re-elected at each AGM). 2026 reforms: mandatory training, stronger disclosure, NCAT power expansion.

Victoria

Governing law: Owners Corporations Act 2006 (under review). Body name: Committee of the owners corporation. Office bearers: chair, secretary. Tier 1, 2, and 3 schemes have different governance requirements. Lot liability and lot entitlement determine voting.

Queensland

Governing law: Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997. Body name: Committee. Office bearers: chair, secretary, treasurer. Voting member limit: typically 7 plus office bearers. Code of conduct mandatory; committee members must complete it on appointment.

Western Australia

Governing law: Strata Titles Act 1985 (as amended 2018). Body name: Council of owners. Office bearers: chair, secretary, treasurer. Maximum council size: 7 (with exceptions for larger schemes). 2018 reform tranche substantially modernised governance requirements.

South Australia

Governing law: Strata Titles Act 1988 / Community Titles Act 1996. Body name: Management committee (community titles) or operates without a formal committee in smaller strata schemes. Voting and decision-making vary between the two regimes.

Tasmania

Governing law: Strata Titles Act 1998. Body name: Body corporate committee. Smaller average scheme size means many buildings operate without a formal committee, with the body corporate acting as a whole.

Australian Capital Territory

Governing law: Unit Titles (Management) Act 2011. Body name: Executive committee. Office bearers: chair, secretary, treasurer. Stronger statutory duties than some eastern states; defined fiduciary obligations.

Northern Territory

Governing law: Unit Titles Schemes Act 2009 / Unit Title Act 1975. Body name: Body corporate committee. Smallest jurisdiction; most schemes managed under the modern Schemes Act framework with similar structure to other eastern states.

For terminology mapping across all eight jurisdictions when reading documents that originate in another state, see our reference guide:

Tools and templates for committees

Good governance is mostly about persistent records: what was decided, when, by whom, on what evidence, and what happened next. The reason committees fail across handovers is almost always the same: institutional memory leaves with the previous chair, and the new committee starts from scratch on problems that were already half-solved.

UnitBuddy is built to give committees the persistent record they need:

Decisions ledger: every committee and general meeting decision logged with context, agenda reference, and outcome
Owner correspondence trail: questions, complaints, and committee responses accumulated over time so patterns become visible
Financial dashboard: fund trajectories, budget variance, and quarterly snapshots without needing accounting expertise
Maintenance history: what was fixed, when, by whom, for how much, with photos and contractor records
Compliance tracker: fire safety, insurance renewals, capital works milestones, with state-aware deadlines
Building life ledger: the persistent record that survives every committee handover

Explore the tools · See pricing by building size · Get started

Frequently asked questions

How many people should be on a strata committee?

Most legislation sets a maximum (typically 7–9) and a minimum of one, with three to five being typical for small to medium buildings. Larger committees are unwieldy; smaller committees concentrate workload on a few people. For most buildings, 5 is a sensible target.

Can a tenant be on the committee?

In most Australian states, only lot owners (or their formally appointed nominees) can serve on the committee. Some schemes allow tenant representatives in non-voting capacities. The detail varies by jurisdiction.

What happens if no one wants to be on the committee?

Most legislation provides for the owners corporation to function without a full committee, with the strata manager taking on more decision-making, but this is generally a sign of a building in trouble. Without an active committee, the manager's authority effectively expands by default, which is the structural condition where most strata problems begin.

Do committee members get paid?

Generally no. Committee service is voluntary in Australia. Some jurisdictions allow specific reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses, but committee members are not paid for their time. Office bearers serving in unusually demanding roles (very large or complex schemes) sometimes negotiate honoraria, but this is the exception.

Can the committee fire the strata manager?

The committee can recommend it, and in some circumstances initiate it, but ending a management agreement generally requires a general meeting resolution. The 2025 NSW reforms gave NCAT new power to vary or end management agreements directly in cases of misconduct.

How often should the committee meet?

Most legislation requires at least one committee meeting between AGMs, but functional committees typically meet quarterly at minimum, more often when issues are active. Less than quarterly is generally a sign that decisions are being made informally or by the strata manager without proper oversight.

Keep reading

This guide is one of seven pillar resources on UnitBuddy:

Or browse the full blog for everything we have published.

Last updated: 5 May 2026. UnitBuddy publishes general information for Australian strata owners and committees. It is not legal, financial, or accounting advice. For advice specific to your scheme, consult a strata lawyer or your owners corporation's professional advisers.

Strata Committee Governance in Australia: A Plain-English Guide for 2026