What Does a Strata Manager Actually Do? Roles, Responsibilities and Limits

The default position

A strata manager is a service provider engaged by the strata or community corporation to handle the administrative, financial and statutory work that comes with running a body corporate. They are not the owners, they are not the decision-makers, and they are not the landlord. The corporation runs itself, through its committee, its general meetings, and its by-laws, and the manager executes the corporation’s decisions.

This is the single most important thing to understand about the role. When a manager says “we’ve decided to…” it is, almost always, a paraphrase of “the corporation resolved at the AGM to…” or “the committee instructed us to…”. The manager is the implementer, not the decision-maker.

The legal relationship

Under South Australian law, a strata manager acts as the agent of the strata or community corporation. The corporation engages the manager via a written management agreement, which sets out:

•       The term of the engagement (typically one to three years)

•       The fees, covering a base management fee plus disbursements and specified additional services

•       The scope of authority, covering what the manager can do without further approval, and what requires committee or general-meeting resolution

•       The termination provisions, covering notice periods, breach clauses, and end-of-term arrangements

Agency law brings with it fiduciary obligations. The manager must act in the corporation’s best interests, avoid conflicts of interest, account for any money handled, and disclose any commissions or kickbacks they receive from contractors or insurers. This is not optional and not contractual. It is a legal duty owed at common law.

What the day-to-day work looks like

Most management agreements cover broadly the same set of tasks. The exact list varies between providers and between strata and community corporations, but you can expect a typical strata manager to handle:

Financial administration

•       Issuing levy notices and collecting payments

•       Maintaining the administration and sinking fund accounts

•       Paying invoices on the corporation’s authority

•       Preparing annual financial statements for the AGM

•       Liaising with auditors where required

Meetings

•       Setting AGM and committee meeting dates in consultation with the chair

•       Preparing and distributing meeting notices, agendas and supporting papers

•       Attending meetings (whether the manager chairs is a separate question)

•       Taking and distributing minutes

•       Following up resolutions and actions

Insurance

•       Arranging building and public liability cover renewals

•       Maintaining the insurance schedule

•       Liaising with insurers and brokers on claims

•       Providing certificates of currency to owners on request

Contractor coordination

•       Engaging contractors for routine maintenance within their delegated authority

•       Obtaining quotes for larger works and presenting them to the committee

•       Following up work orders and invoices

•       Maintaining contractor records: licences, insurance, and ABNs

Compliance and record-keeping

•       Keeping the corporation’s books and records

•       Lodging required notifications and updates, such as changes of address and committee membership

•       Maintaining the strata roll or community register

•       Issuing Section 41 / Section 122 certificates to settling buyers

Owner correspondence

•       Handling general enquiries from owners and occupiers

•       Forwarding committee-level matters to the committee

•       Escalating disputes appropriately

What the manager cannot do

This is the part owners most often misunderstand. The manager has executive authority over implementation; they do not have decision-making authority over the corporation itself. The following sit firmly with the committee, the corporation, or both:

•       Setting the annual budget. The corporation approves it at the AGM. The manager prepares a draft, but the figures, the levy rate, and the contributions to the sinking fund are owner decisions.

•       Approving major expenditure. Most management agreements set a financial threshold (often a few thousand dollars) above which the manager must obtain committee approval before engaging a contractor or authorising work.

•       Making or amending by-laws. New or amended by-laws require a special resolution at a general meeting and lodgement with the Lands Titles Office. The manager processes the paperwork; the owners make the rule.

•       Granting or refusing pet applications, alterations, or other owner requests. These typically require committee or general-meeting approval depending on the by-laws.

•       Pursuing or settling legal action. The corporation, through its committee, decides whether to litigate, mediate, or settle. The manager facilitates.

•       Selecting or removing committee members. Owners elect the committee at the AGM and can remove members at a general meeting.

•       Choosing or replacing the manager itself. That is an owner decision, taken at a general meeting.

If your manager is making any of the above decisions without a corresponding committee or general-meeting resolution, something has gone wrong with the governance structure, and that is a conversation worth having sooner rather than later.

Common misconceptions

“The manager runs the corporation.”

No. The corporation runs itself through its committee and its general meetings. The manager runs the administration.

“We have to do what the manager says.”

No. The relationship is the other way around. The manager works for the corporation. If the corporation directs them differently, within the bounds of the law and the management agreement, they must comply or terminate the engagement.

“The manager is personally liable for the corporation’s decisions.”

Generally not. Liability for the corporation’s decisions rests with the corporation. The manager can be liable for their own negligence, breach of duty, or breach of the management agreement, but not for the consequences of decisions the corporation itself made.

“Changing managers is too difficult.”

Most management agreements include reasonable termination provisions. The process is administrative but well-trodden. See our guide on How to Change Your Strata Manager.

Signs your manager is earning their fee

A capable strata manager will:

•       Respond to enquiries promptly, typically within two to three business days

•       Provide clear, itemised financial reports without being asked

•       Bring decisions to the committee rather than making them unilaterally

•       Disclose conflicts of interest, commissions, and contractor relationships

•       Maintain organised, accessible records

•       Help the corporation plan ahead for insurance renewals, sinking fund needs, and statutory compliance dates

•       Treat owners and committee members with respect, including those who disagree with them

Red flags to watch for

•       Decisions made without committee approval. Especially expenditure above the agreement’s authority limit, or any owner-impacting matter such as by-law enforcement or contractor selection for major works.

•       Slow or evasive responses. A manager who takes weeks to reply, or who answers questions with non-answers, is one to test the contract against.

•       Cosy relationships with specific contractors. Lawful relationships are fine; undisclosed commissions or a refusal to obtain comparative quotes are not.

•       Resistance to records requests. Owners have statutory rights to inspect the corporation’s books. A manager who makes that difficult has misunderstood whose books they are.

•       Financial irregularities. Unexplained variances, missing reconciliations, or fees outside the agreement.

•       Fees creeping above the agreement. Quarterly invoices that don’t match the fee schedule, or “additional services” being charged for things the base fee should cover.

If you’re not sure whether your manager is performing, our Assess Your Manager quiz walks through the key questions in about five minutes.

The three-way accountability structure

The corporation, the committee, and the manager form an accountability triangle, and each has a different role:

•       The corporation (all owners) makes the big decisions at general meetings: budget, levies, by-laws, major works, manager appointment.

•       The committee (elected from among the owners) makes the day-to-day operational decisions between meetings: approving expenditure within authority, instructing the manager, dealing with owner requests.

•       The manager executes the committee’s instructions and handles the administrative, financial and statutory work.

When this works, each party respects the others’ authority and the corporation runs smoothly. When it breaks down, usually because the committee has stopped meeting, or the manager has started making decisions, or owners have stopped paying attention, the structure has to be reset before anything else gets fixed.

Getting in touch

Acacia Collective is Australia’s only member-owned strata collective. We manage strata and community-title groups across South Australia, and we built the business specifically to do this work the way it should be done: transparent fees, clear accountability, and a manager who knows the work is done for the corporation, not the other way around.

If you’d like to talk about whether your current arrangement is working, call us on 1300 792 255 or email hello@acaciacollective.com.au.