If you own a unit, townhouse or apartment in a strata scheme in New South Wales, you are part of a small shared community with shared property and shared bills. Someone has to make the decisions that keep it running. That someone is the strata committee.
Sitting on the committee is a genuine responsibility. You help decide how money is spent, how the building is maintained, and how the rules are applied. Done well, it keeps your scheme safe, well run and worth living in. Done poorly, it leads to disputes, surprise bills and buildings that fall behind on repairs.
This guide explains what a strata committee is, what members actually do, the duties you take on, and why a short course like Archer Institute Strata Members CPD helps you do the job well.
What a strata scheme and committee are
A strata scheme is a property divided into lots (the parts you own, such as your unit) and common property (shared areas like stairwells, gardens, roofs and lifts). Every lot owner is automatically a member of the owners corporation, the legal body that owns and manages the common property.
The owners corporation is large and only meets formally now and then. So owners elect a strata committee to handle the running of the scheme between general meetings. In New South Wales, all of this sits under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 and its regulations, overseen by NSW Fair Trading.
The committee is elected at the annual general meeting. The number of members and how they are chosen follow rules in the Act, so confirm the current detail with NSW Fair Trading or your strata managing agent rather than guessing.
Worth knowing up front: this is generally a voluntary role. Committee members are usually owners (or their nominees) who agree to help, not paid officers. You do not need a real estate licence or any prior experience to serve. Most members start out knowing very little about strata law and learn the role as they go, which is exactly why a short course is so useful.
What strata committee members actually do
The committee handles the practical, recurring work of running the scheme. That covers a wide range of tasks across the year. In broad terms, members are involved in:
- Arranging repairs and maintenance of common property, from gardens to lifts to the building exterior.
- Overseeing the scheme finances and the two funds (the administrative fund and the capital works fund).
- Helping set and raise levies so the scheme can pay its bills and plan for major works.
- Applying and enforcing the scheme by-laws fairly and consistently.
- Arranging insurance and making sure required certificates and compliance checks are current.
- Calling and running general meetings, including the annual general meeting.
- Keeping proper records of decisions, finances and correspondence.
Many schemes appoint a strata managing agent to do the heavy administrative lifting and keep the scheme compliant. The committee still makes the decisions. The agent advises and executes. Knowing where that line sits is one of the most useful things a new member can learn.
The duties owners take on
When you join a strata committee, you take on duties to act properly. You are making decisions that affect every owner and resident, including the value of their homes. The Act sets out how committees and the owners corporation must behave.
In plain terms, that means acting in the interest of the scheme as a whole rather than your own corner of it, avoiding conflicts of interest, following the proper process for decisions and spending, and keeping honest records. You do not have to be a lawyer or an accountant. You do have to take the role seriously and ask for help when a decision is beyond you.
These duties are not meant to scare anyone off. They are mostly common sense made formal. Turn up, take part, declare anything that could be a conflict, keep the records straight, and put the scheme first. A member who does that is doing the job properly even if they are still learning the finer detail of the Act.
This is also where good governance starts. We cover the specifics in our guide to good strata governance and the common mistakes committees make.
The money: levies and the two funds
A scheme runs on the levies owners pay. Those levies feed two separate funds. The administrative fund covers day-to-day running costs like cleaning, gardening, insurance and minor repairs. The capital works fund (once called the sinking fund) saves for major and long-term works such as repainting, roof replacement or lift upgrades.
Setting levies at the right level is one of the committee role most important jobs. Set them too low and the scheme cannot afford to maintain itself, which stores up problems and big special levies later. We explain how the two funds work in our guide to NSW strata levies, administrative fund versus capital works fund.
By-laws: the rules of the scheme
Every strata scheme has by-laws, the rules that govern things like pets, parking, noise, renovations and the use of common property. The committee helps apply them fairly and consistently, and the owners corporation can change them by the proper process at a general meeting.
By-laws must be lawful and cannot be applied selectively. A committee that ignores breaches, or enforces a rule against one owner but not another, invites disputes. Our guide to how NSW strata by-laws work explains the process for making and changing one.
Meetings and decisions
Strata decisions are made at meetings, with proper notice, an agenda, and votes recorded. The annual general meeting is the big one, where owners review the finances, set the budget and elect the committee. Smaller decisions happen at committee meetings through the year.
Notice periods, what counts as a quorum and which decisions need a special resolution are all set out in the Act, and the detail can change. Confirm the current requirements with NSW Fair Trading or your strata managing agent before you rely on a figure. If you are new to running a meeting, start with our step-by-step guide to running a strata AGM in NSW.
Insurance and compliance
A strata scheme has to carry the right insurance and keep certain compliance obligations current, from building insurance to safety checks on shared equipment. The committee oversees this, usually with the strata managing agent arranging the cover and prompting the checks. It is easy to treat as background paperwork, but an uninsured scheme or a lapsed safety certificate is a serious problem, so it deserves attention at each meeting. If anything here is unclear, confirm what your scheme must hold with NSW Fair Trading or your strata managing agent.
When something goes wrong
Disputes happen, over noise, repairs, levies or by-law breaches. The first step is usually internal: talk it through, follow the process, and keep records. Where a dispute cannot be resolved, NSW Fair Trading offers guidance and mediation, and the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) can decide certain strata matters. A committee that keeps clean records and follows fair process is in a far stronger position if a matter ever reaches that stage.
Why training helps
Nobody is born knowing strata law. Most committee members are owners who put their hand up to help. That is exactly why a short, plain-English course is worth doing. Understanding the Act, your duties, the two funds, by-laws and meeting rules turns a nervous new member into a confident, useful one.
Archer Institute offers Strata Members CPD built for committee members and lot owners in New South Wales. It is online and self-paced, so you can fit it around the rest of your life. If you have just been elected, start with our guide to what new strata committee members need to know.
The course is grounded in the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 and the practical reality of serving on a committee. It walks through your duties, how the two funds work, the by-law process and how to run a meeting, in language a busy owner can follow. You come away knowing what you are voting on, where your obligations sit, and when to lean on your strata managing agent. That confidence shows up in better decisions and fewer disputes for the whole scheme.
Your next step
Being on a strata committee is a service to your neighbours and a way to protect your own investment. Take it seriously, lean on your strata managing agent, and give yourself the grounding to make good decisions. Browse Strata Members CPD or call our Australian-based team on 1800 069 273 and we will tell you what the course covers and how it fits your role.
