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Strata ServicesSA · ACT · Tasmania

A guide published by Dotto

Strata in South Australia, the ACT and Tasmania

Three places, three Acts, and three names for one idea: a corporation made of the owners. This guide reads each place from its own law.

Three sealsEach place’s law speaks of that corporation’s seal, and treats it differently. The three impressions below, and on every page, are drawn from those rules.

Buy a unit or townhouse in South Australia, the ACT or Tasmania and you become a member of a corporation of owners that looks after the shared property. The three places differ in who watches over that corporation and where a dispute goes. In South Australia no government agency oversees strata and disputes go to the Magistrates Court; in the ACT a paid managing agent generally needs a real estate licence; in Tasmania the Recorder of Titles hears disputes. Strata Services is a guide to all three, written and published by Dotto.

General informationAbout the law in three places, not legal advice about any scheme, dispute or purchase. Each guide links the official pages it draws on.

1Three seals, three rules

Each of the three Acts speaks of the corporation’s common seal, the mark it can put on a document, and each treats it differently.

  • South AustraliaA strata corporation must keep a common seal, which it can use to sign contracts and needs if it amalgamates with another corporation.
  • The ACTThe Act says an owners corporation may have a common seal. It is optional, so it is drawn in outline.
  • TasmaniaA body corporate has a common seal, fixed only when a resolution allows it and witnessed by at least two members, or by the only member where there is one.

2What the corporation is called

South Australia
A strata corporation, formed when the strata plan is lodged with the Lands Titles Office, or a community corporation, formed when a community plan is deposited with Land Services SA.
The ACT
An owners corporation, the legal entity that joins all the owners in a scheme, once called a body corporate.
Tasmania
A body corporate, made up of all the lot owners and named “Strata Corporation No.” followed by the scheme’s name.

3The guides

One guide for each place, then two that set the places side by side.

  1. Strata and community corporations in South AustraliaTwo Acts, two kinds of corporation, the officers every one must have, strata managers, and the road to the Magistrates Court.
  2. Owners corporations in the ACTUnits plans, the executive committee, the licence a paid managing agent generally needs, the funds, and ACAT.
  3. Bodies corporate in TasmaniaA corporation from the day the plan is registered, waking one that has never met, insurance, and the Recorder of Titles.
  4. What a strata owner can ask forRecords, insurance policies, a meeting and a vote, set side by side for the three places, with the clocks the law sets.
  5. Articles, rules and by-lawsThree names for a scheme’s own rules, how each is changed, what each may not forbid, and what follows a breach.

4Where the official word is

  • South Australia: sa.gov.au’s strata titles and community titles pages. For a dispute with the corporation itself, they point to legal advice, which the Legal Services Commission can give.
  • The ACT: Access Canberra, which licenses real estate agents under the Agents Act 2003, and ACAT for unit titles disputes.
  • Tasmania: the Land Titles Office’s strata pages, where an application for relief to the Recorder of Titles begins.