Complete Guide to Strata Management in Victoria
Everything you need to know about managing an owners corporation in Victoria, from legislation basics to best practices.
Published 1 August 2026 · Updated 24 August 2026
What is an owners corporation?
An owners corporation (formerly a body corporate) is automatically created when a plan of subdivision containing common property is registered with Land Use Victoria. Every lot owner is a member, whether they realise it or not, and the owners corporation legally owns and manages the common property — driveways, shared walls, gardens, stairwells and shared services.
Victoria has more than 100,000 active owners corporations, and the large majority are small: fewer than 10 lots. The obligations, however, do not scale down with size. A three-lot villa development carries most of the same legal duties as a 300-lot tower.
Your legal obligations under the Act
The Owners Corporations Act 2006 (Vic) sets out the core duties: maintain and repair common property, take out and maintain required insurance, keep an owners corporation register, prepare financial statements, and hold an annual general meeting where required.
The Owners Corporations Regulations 2018 and the 2021 amendments introduced a five-tier system based on lot count, with obligations that step up as buildings get larger. Tier 5 (2 lots) and Tier 4 (3-9 lots) — the buildings StrataXcel specialises in — have lighter requirements but are not exempt from the fundamentals.
Self-management versus professional management
Many small buildings self-manage to save money, and it can work when one committed owner does the administration. The risks are continuity (that owner sells or burns out), compliance gaps that surface at settlement time, and personal liability for decisions made without proper process.
Professional management transfers the compliance workload to a licensed manager. The traditional objection — cost — assumed percentage-style fees of $300 to $500 per lot. At a flat $99 per lot per year, the economics of professional management change fundamentally for small buildings.
This guide is being expanded
We are progressively expanding this guide with chapters on insurance, maintenance planning, levies and arrears, meeting procedure, and dispute resolution. Check back soon, or contact us if a specific topic would help your committee now.