Strata, Owners Corporation and Body Corporate Law in Australia

Australia has no single strata law. Each state and territory runs its own scheme under its own Act, and even the name for the managing entity changes at the border: body corporate in Queensland, owners corporation in Victoria and the ACT, strata scheme or strata company elsewhere.

Information last verified on 21 July 2026 against the primary legislation. This page presents general legal information, not legal advice.

Jurisdiction scope: This hub covers the law governing multi-lot residential developments (strata schemes, owners corporations, body corporates, strata companies and strata/community corporations) across every Australian state and territory, verified 21 July 2026. It links to five topic spokes (disputes, levies, by-laws, pets and repairs) and five state-specific pages (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia). It does not cover retirement villages or community land schemes as distinct from strata or community title, which sit under separate legislation in most states.

The same building, eight different names

A multi-lot development with shared common property is regulated by its own Act in every Australian state and territory, and almost every one of those Acts gives the managing entity, and often the scheme itself, a different legal name. A reader who searches "body corporate" is almost certainly in Queensland; a reader who searches "owners corporation" is in Victoria or the ACT; a reader who searches "strata" is in New South Wales, Western Australia or Tasmania. South Australia uses a strata corporation for its older Strata Titles Act 1988 schemes and a community corporation for its newer Community Titles Act 1996 schemes. Getting this vocabulary right matters: calling a Queensland body corporate a "strata scheme," or a Victorian owners corporation a "body corporate," is a sign that a source is describing the wrong state's law.

This hub deliberately does not state which tribunal or court hears unit title scheme disputes in the Northern Territory. That detail could not be independently confirmed against the primary legislation in time for publication, so it has been left out rather than guessed.

Queensland and South Australia are the two forums people get wrong

The NCAT/VCAT/QCAT/SACAT pattern across the other jurisdictions invites the assumption that Queensland goes to QCAT and South Australia goes to SACAT. Neither is the default.

In Queensland, section 227 of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld) defines what counts as a "dispute," and Chapter 6 sets up a dedicated dispute resolution structure: the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management, dispute resolution officers, and a process running through mediation, conciliation and specialist adjudication before any tribunal is involved. Under section 229, an ordinary dispute can only be resolved through this dispute resolution process (or an appeal to the appeal tribunal on a question of law), while QCAT's original jurisdiction is reserved for "complex disputes," a narrower category that includes some lot entitlement adjustments and specified debt disputes. QCAT is the exception in the Queensland system, not the rule.

In South Australia, section 41A(2) of the Strata Titles Act 1988 (SA) and section 142(2) of the Community Titles Act 1996 (SA) both provide, in near-identical language, that "an application must be made to the Magistrates Court." A person may only bring a matter in the District Court with that court's permission, and only where the complexity or significance of the matter justifies it; the Supreme Court becomes involved only for a matter of general importance or a stated question of law. The South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal does not feature in either Act's dispute resolution provisions. See strata and body corporate disputes in Australia for the full state-by-state forum comparison.

Start with the committee, not the tribunal

Every Act summarised on this hub is structured the same way: a decision by the committee or at a general meeting, an avenue to raise a complaint or seek conciliation, and only then an application to whichever court or tribunal has jurisdiction. Queensland's Commissioner's office runs mediation, conciliation and adjudication before Chapter 6 lets a complex dispute reach QCAT. Victoria's Owners Corporations Act 2006 (Vic) sets out a complaints and Director-of-Consumer-Affairs conciliation process in Part 10 before Part 11 opens the door to VCAT. Western Australia's Tribunal can decline to hear a scheme dispute under section 198 if satisfied it would be reasonable to expect the parties to resolve it themselves first. None of these Acts are set up for a dispute to go straight from a disagreement between neighbours to a tribunal hearing.

New South Wales' 2025 reform wave, in stages, not on one date

The Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (NSW) was assented to on 2 March 2025. Its own commencement clause only brings a handful of items into force on the date of assent; everything else commences "on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation," which is exactly what has happened: different parts of the Act have come into force at different times through 2025 and into 2026. As at the date this article was verified, the current version of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) already reflects several of the 2025 changes, including a firm 6-year limit on bringing an action for an owners corporation's failure to repair common property (see repairs to strata common property in Australia), a 12-month cap on payment plans for overdue levies, and an extension of the notice period before an owners corporation can take recovery action from 21 to 30 days. At the same time, at least one 2025 change (a new limit on recovering the expenses of collecting unpaid levies unless a payment plan was first offered) had not yet commenced. Because the rollout is genuinely staggered, this hub does not attach a single "the 2025 reforms took effect on..." date to the package as a whole; see strata levies in Australia for what is confirmed to be in force.

Pets are the sharpest divergence in the cluster

No topic in this cluster diverges more between states than pet by-laws. New South Wales presumes that keeping an animal on a lot is reasonable, and a by-law or owners corporation decision has no force to the extent it unreasonably prohibits one. South Australia's equivalent provision protects only assistance and therapeutic animals used by a person with a disability, so an ordinary pet does not have the same statutory footing there. Queensland relies on a general test that a by-law must not be "oppressive or unreasonable." The Australian Capital Territory uses a consent-based model with a deemed-consent timeframe. See pets in strata schemes across Australia for the full comparison, including what each Act actually says rather than what is commonly assumed.

What this cluster covers

Five topic pages compare the law across every state covered on this hub: strata and body corporate disputes (who decides what, and in what order), strata and body corporate levies (how contributions are raised and what happens if one is overdue), strata and body corporate by-laws (how a by-law becomes valid and what limits apply to it), pets in strata schemes (the state-by-state comparison above), and repairs to common property (who has to fix what, and by when). Five state pages go deeper on the jurisdiction with its own terminology: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.

Strata records are not the land title

The owners corporation's or body corporate's records (minutes, by-laws, levies, the strata roll) are held by the scheme itself and searched through its own process, which is what the pages in this cluster cover. The lot's ownership, mortgages and caveats sit on the land title register run by each state's registry, and that is a separate search with its own fees. See property records and land title searches in Australia for how to search the register in each state and territory.

This page is general legal information about strata, owners corporation, body corporate and community title law in Australia, verified on 21 July 2026. It is not legal advice, and it does not cover every situation or every by-law or scheme rule that may apply to a particular development. For advice about a specific dispute, levy or by-law, consult a legal practitioner admitted in the relevant Australian state or territory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is "strata title" the same thing as a "body corporate"?

They describe the same broad concept, a multi-lot development with shared common property, but "body corporate" is specifically Queensland and Tasmanian terminology for the managing entity. New South Wales, Western Australia and Tasmania use "strata scheme" for the development itself; Victoria and the ACT use "owners corporation"; South Australia uses "strata corporation" or "community corporation" depending on which Act the scheme was registered under.

Why doesn't Queensland use QCAT for most body corporate disputes?

Because the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld) sets up its own dispute resolution structure in Chapter 6, run by the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management. Under section 229, most disputes can only be resolved through that process or an appeal on a question of law; QCAT's original jurisdiction is limited to "complex disputes," a defined and narrower category.

Does South Australia use SACAT for strata disputes?

No. Section 41A(2) of the Strata Titles Act 1988 (SA) and section 142(2) of the Community Titles Act 1996 (SA) both direct an application to the Magistrates Court of South Australia, not the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

When did the NSW 2025 strata reforms commence?

There is no single date. The Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (NSW) was assented to on 2 March 2025, and its commencement clause brought only a small number of items into force on that date, leaving the rest to commence by proclamation at different times. Some changes were still not in force as at the date this article was verified.

Can a strata by-law ban pets in Australia?

It depends on the state. New South Wales presumes keeping an animal is reasonable and a by-law has no force to the extent it unreasonably prohibits one. South Australia's statutory protection covers only assistance and therapeutic animals. See pets in strata schemes across Australia for the state-by-state detail, including Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.

Do I have to go to a tribunal to resolve a strata dispute?

Generally not as a first step. Every jurisdiction covered on this hub structures its Act around an internal process, a committee or general meeting decision, and often a formal complaint or conciliation step, before a tribunal or court application becomes available or necessary.

What is Western Australia's strata dispute forum called?

The State Administrative Tribunal (SAT), which hears "scheme disputes" under Part 13 of the Strata Titles Act 1985 (WA). Western Australia calls the managing entity a "strata company," not an owners corporation or body corporate.