Body Corporate vs Strata: What’s the Difference?

Most of the confusion people have about body corporate and strata is not that they are different things. It is that they are the same thing called different names in different states. A unit on the Gold Coast and a unit in Sydney live under the same basic structure: shared ownership of common property, collective decision-making, annual budgets, levies, meetings, rules. What changes is the legislation, the terminology, and some of the procedural detail.

This guide explains the differences in plain English, so that if you own in one state and are thinking about buying or moving to the other, or if you are on a committee that operates across both, you know what to expect.

A note on where this comes from. My 12+ years in strata have been on the business development side, working with committees and owners in Queensland. I am also a strata owner myself. What follows is a general explainer, not legal advice. For anything specific to your scheme, speak with a qualified strata professional or lawyer.

The short version

In Queensland, the structure is called a body corporate. It operates under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld).

In New South Wales, the structure is called an owners corporation. It operates under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW). The word “strata” is used commonly in NSW as shorthand.

Both mean the same thing in practice: a legal entity made up of the owners in a multi-lot scheme that owns and manages the common property.

Neither state’s system is inherently better or worse. They are just different state laws doing roughly the same job with different terminology.

The same concept, two names

Both systems exist to solve the same problem: when a building has multiple owners sharing common property (lobbies, lifts, roofs, pools, gardens, driveways, facades), someone has to own that common property, maintain it, insure it, pay for it, and set the rules.

The solution in both states is a legal entity that includes every owner in the scheme. That entity is the decision-maker, budget-setter, and legal counterparty for insurance and service contracts. In Queensland the entity is called the body corporate. In New South Wales it is called the owners corporation.

When people say “strata”, they are almost always talking about the NSW version of this system, but the word has spread informally and is now sometimes used in Queensland too. Officially, Queensland does not use the word “strata” in its legislation. It uses “body corporate” and “community titles scheme”.

Terminology: the full translation

This is where most of the confusion shows up. The terms are genuinely different.

Concept	Queensland	New South Wales
The legal entity of owners	Body corporate	Owners corporation
The elected decision-making group	Body corporate committee	Strata committee
The professional manager	Body corporate manager	Strata manager (or strata managing agent)
The title to your unit	Lot	Lot
Your share of the total	Lot entitlement	Unit entitlement
The operating fund	Administrative fund	Administrative fund
The long-term capital fund	Sinking fund	Capital works fund
The scheme’s rule set	By-laws	By-laws
Recorded on	Community management statement	Strata plan + by-laws
Main governing Act	Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997	Strata Schemes Management Act 2015

A Queensland “body corporate committee” is exactly what a New South Wales “strata committee” is: the elected group of owners who make ongoing decisions between general meetings.

A Queensland “sinking fund” is what New South Wales calls a “capital works fund”. Same purpose (long-term repairs and replacements), different label.

Key practical differences

Most of the day-to-day experience is similar. Where it is different, the differences tend to cluster around four things.

1. Regulation modules (QLD only)

Queensland law applies one of five regulation modules to every scheme, based on what type of scheme it is:

• Standard Module, the default for most residential schemes
• Accommodation Module, for schemes with a letting pool (holiday letting, serviced apartments)
• Commercial Module, for commercial schemes
• Small Schemes Module, for schemes with six or fewer lots
• Specified Two-Lots Module, for some two-lot schemes

The module determines a lot of the procedural detail: how committees are elected, what voting thresholds apply, how agreements are executed, what fees the body corporate manager can be paid. The module is set at registration and usually stays the same for the life of the scheme.

New South Wales does not have an equivalent module system. The Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 applies more uniformly across scheme types, with some distinctions for small schemes (two-lot schemes) and large schemes.

2. Licensing of managers

In New South Wales, strata managing agents must hold a strata management licence under the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002. It is a formal occupational licence, overseen by NSW Fair Trading. Licensees have to meet qualification, conduct, and trust account requirements.

In Queensland, body corporate managers are not required to hold a separate occupational licence. They operate under the BCCM Act, which regulates how fees are charged, how trust accounts operate, and how agreements are structured. Professional bodies such as Strata Community Association (SCA) set additional voluntary standards.

This is the single most surprising difference for owners moving between the two states. A NSW owner is used to the idea that their manager is licensed. A Queensland owner is not, because no such licence exists.

3. Disputes

Queensland body corporate disputes are handled through the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management, with escalation to QCAT (Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal).

New South Wales strata disputes are handled through NSW Fair Trading mediation, with escalation to NCAT (NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal).

Both systems are designed to keep disputes out of the courts. The QLD system is a little more centralised around the Commissioner. The NSW system tends to use Fair Trading mediation first before moving to NCAT.

4. Fund naming and planning horizons

Both states require two funds, one for operating costs and one for long-term capital expenditure. Both require a forward-looking plan.

Feature	Queensland	New South Wales
Operating fund	Administrative fund	Administrative fund
Long-term fund	Sinking fund	Capital works fund
Forecast horizon	9 years	10 years

The practical effect is the same in both states: the committee sets levies that combine day-to-day running costs and a sinking/capital works component, and the long-term fund is supposed to be set so that projected capital works can be met without special levies.

What is the same in both states

More is the same than different. In both states:

• Every owner is automatically a member of the legal entity (body corporate / owners corporation) by virtue of owning a lot.
• The entity owns the common property. Individual owners own their lot.
• Decisions are made by motion, usually at a general meeting, with voting based on lot or unit entitlement.
• A committee of owners is elected to handle ongoing decisions between general meetings.
• A budget is prepared each year covering operating costs and long-term capital work.
• Levies are split between the operating fund and the long-term fund, apportioned based on entitlement.
• Insurance of the building and common property is arranged collectively.
• By-laws set the scheme’s rules on things like pets, noise, renovations, short-term letting, and common area use.
• Disputes go through a regulator/mediator first, then a tribunal.

If you are familiar with how one works, the other will feel 90% familiar.

What an owner should check when buying across states

A few things commonly catch people out when they buy in one state after owning in the other.

Coming from NSW to QLD:

• Check which regulation module applies to the scheme. It affects a lot of procedural detail.
• Do not assume your manager is licensed in the NSW sense. Ask about SCA membership, PI insurance, and trust account arrangements instead.
• The “sinking fund” is the capital works fund you are used to. Same thing.

Coming from QLD to NSW:

• There is no module equivalent. The Strata Schemes Management Act applies more uniformly.
• Your manager will hold a strata management licence. Check the licence is current.
• The “capital works fund” is the sinking fund you are used to. Same thing.

In both cases, the pre-purchase records search is your single best piece of due diligence. In Queensland, a body corporate records search gives you access to financials, minutes, by-laws, insurance, and contracts. In New South Wales, a strata report (Section 184 certificate plus inspection of records) does the equivalent job.

Which “type” of scheme am I in?

Most Queensland residential schemes are under the Standard Module or Accommodation Module. You can usually tell which one from the community management statement, which every lot owner is entitled to see. The body corporate manager or the developer can confirm it.

Most NSW residential schemes operate under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 directly, with only size-based variations. Your strata plan number is on your title and can be looked up through NSW LRS records.

Why the two states are different

Broadly, because strata and body corporate legislation evolved separately in each state from the mid-20th century onwards. NSW was the pioneer, introducing strata title in 1961, and its legislation has been through multiple overhauls since. Queensland built its community titles framework around the BCCM Act 1997, which introduced the module system to accommodate the very different scheme types the state has (tourism-heavy, commercial, small residential, large mixed-use).

Neither system is a derivative of the other. They are parallel solutions to the same problem, each shaped by its state’s history.

Related reading

• Getting Started, foundational Q&A on body corporate and strata
• Body Corporate Fees Explained, what levies pay for in both states
• Changing Body Corporate Managers, process for QLD and NSW

Primary sources

• Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld)
• Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW)
• Queensland Government, Body corporate information
• NSW Fair Trading, Strata information

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Last updated: April 2026
Written by: Jeff Blaszkowski, Founder, Body Corporate Gold Coast
Background: 20+ years in business development, including 12+ years in QLD strata (Accor, Smarter Communities, Bright & Duggan). Strata owner. Not a licensed strata manager.
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jeffblaz

This information is general in nature and is not legal, financial, or strata advice. For advice specific to your scheme, consult a qualified strata professional or lawyer.