Australia | Self-Managed
Self-Managed Strata: Running a Small Scheme Without a Manager
In New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, the owners of a small strata scheme can run it themselves. They then carry every duty the law gives the scheme, from the annual meeting to the certificate a buyer asks for. Two-lot and small schemes have lighter rules in each state.
The short answer
- A self-managed strata scheme is run by its own owners, with no paid strata manager. NSW, Queensland and Victoria all allow it for a small scheme.
- The owners take on every duty the law gives the scheme: levies and the two funds, the annual meeting, minutes, insurance, records, by-laws and the certificate a buyer needs.
- Two-lot schemes have the lightest rules in each state. Queensland also has a Small Schemes Module for up to 6 lots.
- If you do hire a manager, each state limits how long the first appointment can run.
Is self-managed strata allowed?
Yes, in all three states. NSW Fair Trading: "There is no legal requirement for you to employ a professional strata manager." The Queensland Government: "A body corporate is not legally required to have a manager." In Victoria the Owners Corporations Act 2006 says an owners corporation is managed "by or under the direction of the lot owners" (s 11). Only a tier one owners corporation, with more than 100 lots, must appoint a manager, and even it can opt out by special resolution (s 119).
The rules stay the same with or without a manager. The law gives the duties to the scheme itself, and a manager carries them out for the owners. In a self-managed scheme, the owners carry them out.
What the owners must do, by state
These are the main duties for a scheme of 2 to 6 lots. A two-lot scheme has fewer; see the next section. Scroll the table sideways on a phone.
| Duty | New South Wales | Queensland (Small Schemes Module) | Victoria |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual general meeting | At least one meeting every year. Written notice at least 14 days before an AGM, 7 days before any other general meeting. | Within 3 months after the end of each financial year. Notice at least 21 days before; a small scheme can decide otherwise if fair and reasonable. | Each year the owners corporation receives or pays out money, no more than 15 months apart. Notice at least 14 days before. |
| Minutes | To all owners within 7 days after the meeting. | Kept with the scheme's records; the Small Schemes Module (s 146) sets how long each kind of record is kept. | Kept as records for at least 7 years. |
| Budget and levies | Levies approved at the AGM by more than 50% voting in favour; at least 30 days to pay. | Administrative fund and sinking fund budgets adopted by ordinary resolution each year; levies fixed from them. | Annual fees based on lot liability; fee notice gives 28 days to pay. |
| Long-term repair plan | 10-year capital works fund plan, reviewed at least every 5 years, on the standard form from 1 April 2026. | Sinking fund budget that reserves for major spending over at least the next 9 years. | Maintenance plan required for tiers one and two (51 lots or more); optional for smaller schemes. |
| Insurance | Building, $20 million public liability, and workers insurance unless the scheme has no employees and is residential only. | Full replacement value cover; $10 million public liability; valuation at least every 5 years. | Building cover; $20,000,000 public liability; valuation at least every 5 years. A 2-lot owners corporation is exempt. |
| Records | Kept 7 years; the strata roll for the life of the scheme; electronic records from 11 June 2024. | Most kept 6 years in a small scheme, minor papers 2 years. Inspection or copies within 7 days of a written request. | Ballots and voting papers 12 months; everything else at least 7 years. |
| Buyer's certificate | Section 184 certificate, given under the owners corporation seal. | Body corporate certificate within 5 business days; $86.95 from 1 July 2026. | Owners corporation certificate within 10 business days, with the rules and last AGM resolutions. Required even in a 2-lot owners corporation. |
| Yearly report to the state | Annual report on the Strata Hub within 3 months of the AGM, $3 per lot. Two-lot schemes are exempt from 1 October 2026. | None found in the sources we read. | None found in the sources we read. |
NSW rules are from NSW Fair Trading's pages, updated between 27 October 2025 and 26 October 2026. Queensland rules are from the Small Schemes Module and the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997, both current as at 1 August 2025, and the fee from the Queensland Government's page of 1 July 2026. Victorian rules are from the Owners Corporations Act 2006 as at 9 September 2026.
Two-lot schemes: the lightest rules
New South Wales. A two-lot scheme needs no audit of its accounts and no resolution before a notice to comply with a by-law. It can do without a capital works fund and without strata building insurance if three things are true: the buildings on the two lots are physically separate, no building or part of one sits outside the two lots, and the owners agree by unanimous vote. From 1 October 2026 it is exempt from annual reporting and from committee training. Its committee must have at least two members, one from each lot.
Queensland. A specified two-lot scheme has 2 residential lots, no letting agent, is not part of a layered scheme, and names the Specified Two-lot Schemes Module in its community management statement. The two owners make every decision by lot owner agreement: in writing, dated, saying what is agreed, and signed by both, or agreed by email with each owner's consent shown. If one owner asks and the other does not agree in time, the body corporate is taken to have said no (Act s 111H). There is no committee and there are no meetings.
Victoria. A 2-lot owners corporation is tier five. Section 7A of the Owners Corporations Act 2006 exempts it from the meeting and ballot rules, the accounts and audit rules, the maintenance plan and fund, the insurance and valuation rules, the records and register rules, the fee notice forms and the internal complaints procedure. In a 2-lot owners corporation a special resolution means a unanimous one. It still has to issue owners corporation certificates, and Consumer Affairs Victoria says the owners "are responsible for any common property and risk significant legal and financial liabilities".
Schemes of 3 to 6 lots
Queensland's Small Schemes Module applies to a basic scheme with no letting agent and no more than 6 lots, when the community management statement names it (s 3). If the scheme later grows past those limits, the Standard Module applies. In a small scheme the committee is only a secretary and a treasurer, and one person may hold both jobs (s 10). The voters present elect the chair of each meeting (s 45). The accounts need an audit only if the body corporate decides on one (s 95).
Victoria puts 3 to 9 lots in tier four. A tier four owners corporation prepares financial statements only for a year in which it levies annual fees (s 34). It may choose an audit or review at the AGM (s 35), may prepare a maintenance plan (s 36) and may elect a committee, which becomes required at 10 lots (s 100).
New South Wales has no separate class between two lots and the large schemes over 100 lots in the pages we read. A 3 to 6 lot scheme follows the general rules in the table above. In schemes of 20 lots or fewer, a person cannot hold a proxy if they already hold one for someone else.
Splitting the jobs between owners
The law names the jobs; the owners decide who does them. In a small scheme the usual split is a treasurer and a secretary, which is the whole committee under Queensland's Small Schemes Module.
- Treasurer: the bank accounts for each fund, levy notices, payments, the budget, the insurance renewal (in NSW the treasurer is responsible for it unless a manager is).
- Secretary: meeting notices, the agenda, minutes, the records, the buyer's certificate and replies to owners.
- Everyone: attend the AGM, vote on the budget and the long-term plan, and read the statements.
Keep the two funds in accounts in the scheme's own name. Queensland's Small Schemes Module requires this and forbids moving money between them (s 86).
If you hire a manager later
A scheme can move from self-managed to managed at any time, and back. Each state limits the first step:
- NSW: a manager appointed at the first AGM serves 12 months only; later agreements can run up to three years. A manager arranging insurance must get at least 3 separate quotes or explain in writing why that is not possible.
- Queensland: in a Small Schemes Module scheme, a manager can take on the committee's work only after the developer's control period, by special resolution, and the engagement ends at the next AGM or after 12 months, whichever comes first (s 24, s 26).
- Victoria: no appointment longer than 3 years, and a paid manager must be registered (s 119).
Best For
- ✓ A scheme of 2 to 6 lots where one or two owners will keep the books and the calendar, and the others check their work.
- ✓ Owners who live on site and talk to each other often.
- ✓ A two-lot scheme in Queensland or Victoria, where the law already removes most meeting and paperwork rules.
Usually Fails When
- ✕ One owner holds the bank account and the records, and nobody else sees a statement.
- ✕ Nobody tracks the dates: the AGM, the insurance renewal, the valuation and the long-term plan review.
- ✕ Owners stop talking, and nobody knows the first step the state requires before a dispute can go further.
What To Verify Before Spending Money
- → Your scheme's plan, by-laws or rules, and, in Queensland, which regulation module your community management statement names.
- → Your state regulator's current pages: NSW Fair Trading, the Queensland Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management, or Consumer Affairs Victoria.
- → The insurance policy and its next renewal date.
Common questions
What is a self-managed strata? +
It is a strata scheme, body corporate or owners corporation run by its own owners, with no paid strata manager. The owners, through their committee where they have one, do the work a manager would do: levies, the budget, meetings, insurance, records and certificates.
Is it legal to self-manage strata in NSW? +
Yes. NSW Fair Trading answers "Do I need a strata manager?" with "No. There is no legal requirement for you to employ a professional strata manager."
Can a body corporate in Queensland manage itself? +
Yes. The Queensland Government says "A body corporate is not legally required to have a manager." The Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 treats a manager as someone the body corporate chooses to engage (s 14, s 119 and s 120).
Does an owners corporation in Victoria need a manager? +
Only a tier one owners corporation, with more than 100 lots, must appoint one, and it can opt out by special resolution. Tiers two to five may appoint a manager. Anyone paid to manage an owners corporation must be registered (Owners Corporations Act 2006, s 119).
How do you run a small strata with 3 owners? +
Agree who does each job: treasurer for levies and the bank account, secretary for notices, minutes and records. Hold the AGM your state requires, adopt a budget for both funds, keep the insurance current and keep every record for the period your state sets. In Queensland, a scheme of up to 6 lots may use the Small Schemes Module, where the committee is just a secretary and a treasurer.
What does a two-lot scheme have to do? +
Less than a larger scheme in every state. In NSW a two-lot scheme skips the audit and, from 1 October 2026, annual reporting and committee training. In Queensland a specified two-lot scheme decides by written agreement of the two owners, with no meetings. In Victoria a 2-lot owners corporation is exempt from the meeting, accounts, insurance and records rules, but must still issue owners corporation certificates.
Do we need a committee? +
NSW: yes, with one to nine members, and at least two (one per lot) in a two-lot scheme. Queensland Small Schemes Module: yes, a secretary and a treasurer, unless a manager is engaged to do the committee's work. Victoria: required at 10 or more lots; with fewer than 10 the owners may elect one, and if they do not, they must elect a chairperson.
Can we hold strata meetings online? +
NSW: owners can meet and vote by electronic means stated in the meeting notice. Queensland Standard Module: the body corporate can decide by ordinary resolution that a voter on a teleconference or videoconference counts as present. Victoria: an owner may take part by teleconference or videoconference under the Regulations, and ballots can be run by post, phone or the internet.
Can one owner act as the strata manager? +
An owner can do the work as a committee member, secretary or treasurer, which is how a self-managed scheme runs. In Victoria, anyone paid to manage an owners corporation must be registered (Owners Corporations Act 2006, s 119(2)).
How long can a strata manager be appointed for? +
NSW: a manager appointed at the first AGM for 12 months only, then agreements of up to three years. Queensland Small Schemes Module: a manager engaged to do the committee's work is appointed by special resolution, and the engagement ends at the next AGM or after 12 months, whichever is first. Victoria: no appointment can run longer than 3 years.
What happens if we miss the AGM? +
NSW Fair Trading lists a new penalty for not holding an AGM from 23 October 2026. In Victoria the gap between AGMs can be no more than 15 months. In Queensland the AGM must be held within 3 months after the end of the financial year.
How do we settle a disagreement between owners? +
Follow your state's first step. NSW: talk, then Fair Trading mediation, which is compulsory for most disputes before NCAT. Queensland: reasonable attempts at internal dispute resolution before applying to the Commissioner. Victoria: a written complaint to the owners corporation before VCAT, except in a 2-lot owners corporation, which is exempt from the internal complaints procedure.
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