In South Australia, a strata scheme is run by a strata corporation under the Strata Titles Act 1988, and a community scheme by a community corporation under the Community Titles Act 1996. Unit holders become members automatically; tenants do not. As sa.gov.au puts it, there is no government agency overseeing strata titles or resolving their disputes, and a dispute owners cannot settle themselves can go to the Magistrates Court.
General informationAbout South Australian strata and community titles, not legal advice about any scheme. The official pages are sa.gov.au’s strata titles and community titles pages. For a dispute with the corporation itself, sa.gov.au points to legal advice, which the Legal Services Commission can give.
1Three ways the land is divided
Strata title usually covers townhouses, units and commercial property such as a shop. A community plan needs at least two lots and an area of common property, the shared land such as driveways, and it comes in two types. Where the boundaries run decides a great deal, including who insures the buildings.
| Kind of scheme | Where a lot’s boundaries run | Who insures the buildings |
|---|---|---|
| Strata title | Along parts of the building, not surveyed lines on the land. Unless the plan says otherwise, a unit ends at the inside surface of its walls, floors and ceilings; for plans lodged before 1 September 1988 the line sits midway through them. | The strata corporation, which must carry building insurance to replacement value and public liability insurance. |
| Community strata | Set by the buildings on the community parcel. | The community corporation, because the buildings are common property. |
| Community scheme | Surveyed measurements on the land. | Each lot owner for the buildings on their own lot; the corporation for buildings and structures in the common areas. |
A strata corporation comes into being when its plan is lodged with the Lands Titles Office, and a community corporation when its plan is deposited with Land Services SA. The rest of this guide follows the strata side, with community rules noted where they differ.
2Who runs a strata corporation
The corporation’s job, in the Law Handbook’s summary of section 25, is to look after and maintain the common property for all the unit holders, to look after its other property, and to enforce its articles. It holds the common property in trust for the unit holders. In most corporations the roof, guttering, external walls and foundations are common property, while internal walls are each owner’s to maintain.
Three offices must always be filled: a presiding officer, a secretary and a treasurer, chosen at a general meeting, and one person may hold more than one. They must be unit holders unless every unit is non-residential, and leaving any of the three empty for more than six months is an offence by the corporation.
A management committee is optional. The corporation can do all its business at general meetings or hand some of it to a committee, appointed by ordinary resolution at a general meeting. The corporation sets the number of members and their term, usually a year, and can remove them by ordinary resolution at any time. Serving carries weight: when the corporation commits an offence under the Act, each committee member at the time is also guilty, facing up to half the corporation’s maximum penalty.
3Contributions, debts and the forward budget
The corporation raises money by levying contributions on all unit holders, set by ordinary resolution at a general meeting and normally shared by the unit entitlements in the strata plan. Unpaid contributions can be sued for as a debt. Interest on them is capped at 15% a year, and interest cannot be charged on interest (the Strata Titles Regulations 2018, as the Law Handbook gives them in October 2026).
Two rules reach past the corporation to its members. Unit holders are guarantors of its liabilities, so its debts can be enforced against any of them directly. And a buyer takes on any contribution still owing on the unit.
A strata corporation need not keep a sinking fund, unlike a community corporation, which must. Every strata corporation does present an expenditure statement to each annual general meeting, and whether it must add a forward budget for spending beyond the recurrent depends on its size and its insured value:
- six units or fewer, or improvements on the common property insured for less than $200,000: no forward budget is required;
- seven to twenty units, insured for $200,000 or more: a forward budget covering three years;
- more than twenty units, insured for $200,000 or more: a forward budget covering five years.
4Strata managers
A strata manager, also called a body corporate manager, is appointed by ordinary resolution at a general meeting, although the corporation can give that power to its committee. The manager can use only the powers the corporation delegates in the appointing contract and has none of its own. The corporation’s duties stay where they were: it still needs its three officers, all unit holders, and it is still liable for decisions made in its name.
- A manager cannot be given anything that needs a special or unanimous resolution, may be given conditions, and never stops the corporation acting itself.
- A manager must hold professional indemnity insurance of at least $1.5 million per claim over a 12-month period, and keep it while working for the corporation (the figure as the Law Handbook gives it in October 2026).
- A manager with a direct or indirect financial interest in a matter must tell the corporation in writing before acting on it; failing to do so carries a maximum penalty of $15,000 (as the Law Handbook gives it in October 2026).
- A manager may send out the notice of a general meeting but may not call one, and may chair a meeting only if a majority of those present and entitled to vote agree.
A contract running longer than 12 months, counting any renewal at the manager’s option, can be ended once it has run for 12 months, on at least 28 days’ written notice unless the contract allows less. When the delegations end, the manager has 7 business days to hand back trust money and 10 business days to return the records.
5When owners cannot agree
With no agency to turn to, the path runs from the corporation to the courts.
The corporation itself
Where one unit holder’s conduct breaches the articles, such as loud music played late at night, the corporation can step in.
Mediation
For a problem with a neighbour, sa.gov.au points to a community mediation service that acts as a neutral third party. The Law Handbook adds that community mediation cannot take on internal disputes between strata members, or between members and their manager.
The Magistrates Court
A strata dispute that cannot be settled privately can go to the Magistrates Court as a minor civil action. The corporation may be represented by one of its members or by its strata manager, and ignoring the court’s order is an offence with a maximum penalty of $2,000 (as the Law Handbook gives it in October 2026). For community schemes, an application usually goes to the same court.
An administrator
If serious problems arise, the corporation, a creditor, a unit holder, or someone with a registered interest such as a mortgagee can ask the Magistrates Court or the Supreme Court to appoint an administrator, paid from the corporation’s funds.
A tenant who uses a unit illegally, or disturbs the peace, comfort or privacy of other occupiers, is a different matter: those affected can ask the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to end the tenancy. Challenges to the articles themselves are covered in the guide to the rules, and records and meetings in what an owner can ask for.