Strata, Owners Corporation and Body Corporate Levies in Australia

Every Australian strata, owners corporation or body corporate scheme raises money from owners the same basic way, contributions set at a general meeting and applied to defined funds, but the notice period, interest rules and recovery process for an overdue levy differ by state.

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

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers how levies (contributions) are raised, and what happens when one is not paid, for strata schemes, owners corporations and body corporates in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, verified 21 July 2026. Queensland's levy machinery sits mainly in scheme-specific regulation modules rather than in the Act itself, so this page describes the Act-level framework only; see the linked state page for further detail where available.

Two funds, almost everywhere

Most Australian strata Acts split what a levy pays for into two categories. New South Wales' administrative fund covers day-to-day costs like insurance and routine maintenance, while its capital works fund is built up against a required 10-year plan for larger, less frequent items such as repainting or replacing a roof. Western Australia's section 100 uses the same structure under different names, an administrative fund and a reserve fund, and requires "designated" strata companies to maintain the reserve fund specifically. South Australia's Community Titles Act 1996 requires a community corporation to establish an administrative fund and a sinking fund under section 116, with non-recurrent expenditure drawn from the sinking fund and everything else from the administrative fund. Victoria takes a slightly different approach: section 23 of the Owners Corporations Act 2006 (Vic) lets an owners corporation levy annual fees and, separately under section 24, extraordinary fees and charges for anything outside the ordinary annual budget.

How a levy is set

A levy is not something the committee or council decides on its own in any of the jurisdictions covered here. In South Australia, section 114 of the Community Titles Act 1996 (SA) requires the amount to be fixed by ordinary resolution "in general meeting," and expressly states it must not be fixed by the management committee. Contributions are then split in proportion to each lot's lot entitlement, unless a unanimous resolution says otherwise. New South Wales similarly requires an owners corporation to estimate its administrative and capital works fund needs at each annual general meeting under section 79. Western Australia's contributions are raised "in proportion to the unit entitlements of their respective lots" unless the scheme's by-laws set a different basis. The pattern across every state is the same: an ordinary or general meeting resolution, tied to unit or lot entitlement, not an arbitrary committee decision.

What happens if a levy is not paid on time

No Australian strata Act treats an unpaid levy as forgiven; each gives the corporation defined tools to pursue it, subject to notice requirements the corporation has to follow. In New South Wales, section 85 lets simple interest accrue at 10% a year (or a regulation-prescribed rate) on a contribution unpaid more than a month after its due date, unless the owners corporation resolves not to charge it. Section 86 then allows the Tribunal to order payment, or lets the owners corporation recover the debt directly in a court without a Tribunal order, but only after giving the person at least 30 days' written notice of the proposed recovery action, and not while the person is complying with an agreed payment plan. In Victoria, section 29 allows penalty interest on arrears, but only if a general meeting resolution authorises it, and section 30 lets the owners corporation recover money owed as a debt in a competent court, subject to first issuing a fee notice and then a final notice. Western Australia's section 100(1)(d) lets a strata company recover, by court action if needed, money it spent on repairs or work required by a written law. None of this describes any particular levy as not payable; it describes the process a corporation has to follow to pursue one.

New South Wales' 2025 payment-plan changes

The Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (NSW) made several changes to sections 85 and 86 that are confirmed to be in force as at the date this article was verified. A payment plan agreed between an owner and the owners corporation is now capped at 12 months, though a further plan can be agreed after that. An owners corporation must not, by resolution, refuse to enter into payment plans generally, though it may still refuse in a particular case. The notice period an owners corporation must give before taking recovery action increased from 21 to 30 days. A further change, inserting a new limit on when an owners corporation can recover the reasonable expenses of collecting an unpaid contribution (broadly, only after having first offered a payment plan and only under a Tribunal or court order), had not commenced as at the date this article was verified, and this page does not describe it as current law. See strata law in Australia for how this staggered rollout fits into the wider 2025 amendment package, and New South Wales strata law for the full detail on this state specifically.

Other states recover unpaid levies too

Queensland's levy machinery sits mainly in the regulation module chosen for each scheme (the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld) sets the framework for how a contribution schedule apportions costs between lots under section 94 and related provisions, but the day-to-day interest, discount and recovery mechanics are set out at the regulation-module level rather than uniformly in the Act itself), so this page does not state a specific interest rate or notice period for Queensland. South Australia's section 114 lets a contribution, instalment or interest be recovered as a debt, and makes payment enforceable jointly and severally against both the current and a subsequent owner of a lot, meaning an unpaid levy can follow a lot through a sale in some circumstances. Every jurisdiction reviewed here treats levy recovery as a formal, notice-driven process rather than something that happens automatically or without a defined pathway.

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.