What is Body Corporate?

When you buy a strata-titled property — such as an apartment, townhouse, or villa — you automatically become a member of the body corporate. You share responsibility for the common areas and contribute financially through quarterly levies. Understanding how the body corporate operates is essential for any unit buyer in Australia. For a comprehensive breakdown, read our body corporate guide for buyers.

Body Corporate Responsibilities

The body corporate has a range of obligations set out in state strata legislation:

• Maintaining common property: Lobbies, hallways, lifts, driveways, gardens, pools, roofing, and external walls.
• Building insurance: Arranging and maintaining adequate building insurance for the entire complex (not contents — that is each owner's responsibility).
• Financial management: Setting annual budgets, collecting levies from owners, and managing the administration and sinking funds.
• Enforcing by-laws: Ensuring owners and tenants comply with the scheme's by-laws covering noise, pets, parking, renovations, and common area usage.
• Record keeping: Maintaining financial records, meeting minutes, correspondence, and the strata roll (register of owners).

Before purchasing, always order a strata report to assess the scheme's financial health. Learn how to read a strata report so you know what to look for.

Body Corporate Levies

Owners pay regular levies (also called strata fees or contributions) to fund the body corporate's operations. These are typically paid quarterly and are split into two main funds:

• Administration fund: Covers day-to-day running costs including insurance premiums, strata management fees, cleaning, gardening, utilities for common areas, and minor repairs.
• Capital works fund (sinking fund): A reserve for major long-term expenses such as roof replacement, repainting, lift upgrades, waterproofing, and structural repairs. A well-funded sinking fund reduces the likelihood of special levies.

Levy amounts vary widely depending on the size of the complex, the facilities provided, and the building's age. Expect anywhere from $500 to $5,000+ per quarter. Buildings with pools, gyms, concierge services, or lifts will have higher levies.

State Terminology Differences

Meetings and Voting

The body corporate must hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) each year where owners vote on the annual budget, elect committee members, approve major expenditure, and amend by-laws. Extraordinary general meetings can be called for urgent matters. Each lot typically has one vote, though some schemes use unit entitlement-based voting for financial matters.

Day-to-day decisions are managed by the strata committee (or body corporate committee), a smaller group of owners elected at the AGM. Many schemes also appoint a professional strata manager to handle administration, compliance, and financial reporting.