If you've landed here trying to work out whether this is a strata manager's accounting system or something else, the short answer is: it's neither an accounting suite nor a chat app. It sits in between. Flex Strata is a committee management portal for Australian strata buildings, built by Strata Pages. It covers meetings, ballots, maintenance, compliance, documents, notices and access control — the tools a committee actually uses day to day. Flex Strata is the committee slice of the Strata Pages platform. Strata Pages itself is a full strata management system used by managers and self-managing owners corporations, covering everything including levies, budgets, cashbooks and bank reconciliation. Flex Strata takes the parts of that system a committee actually touches — meetings, ballots, maintenance, contractors, compliance, documents, notices, disputes, requests and access control — and packages them for committees at a committee price. What it includes An overview dashboard with a chair panel showing what needs attention Building details, lots, insurance records and generated certificates A documents library organised into categories, with owner-facing permissions A maintenance board covering work orders, quotes, invoices and spend approvals A contractor register tracking licences, insurance cover and job history A compliance register with assignments, due dates and reminders Meetings with agendas, proxies and resolutions, plus ballots for votes between meetings Committee Hub — private threads that keep decisions attached to their discussion Notices, disputes with breach notices, shareable request forms and action items People and per-page access control, an audit log, and a guided setup wizard What it deliberately leaves out Flex Strata does not include levies, budgets, cashbooks, bank reconciliation, fee notices or arrears tracking. Those stay in the full Strata Pages product. If your committee later needs full financial management — for example if you're moving away from a manager and taking on the accounts yourselves — you can move up to Strata Pages without losing your history, because it's the same underlying platform. Who it suits Flex Strata suits committees running self-managed buildings, committees working alongside a strata or building manager who want their own record of decisions, and any chair or secretary tired of being the single point of failure for where the building's information lives.

How do we set up our committee's Flex Strata portal?

Start the free trial, then run through the guided setup wizard: building details and lots, insurance, documents, then invite the rest of the committee. Most committees are fully set up in under an hour. Setting up a strata committee portal for the first time can feel like a bigger job than it is, mostly because committees imagine they need to digitise years of paper before they start. You don't — you can bring records across over time. Steps to set up Flex Strata Start the free trial (no card required) Work through the setup wizard: building name and address, lot numbers, and any existing insurance details Upload your most important documents first — by-laws, the last AGM minutes, and current insurance certificate of currency Invite the rest of the committee with their roles (chair, secretary, treasurer, member) Decide, page by page, what your strata or building manager can see if you're keeping one Move any open maintenance jobs or compliance dates into the maintenance board and compliance register What to bring across first Don't try to migrate everything on day one. Prioritise anything with a deadline: expiring insurance, upcoming essential services checks, open maintenance jobs waiting on a quote, and any dispute that's already underway. Historical documents can be added progressively — owners will thank you more for a well-organised recent record than a dumped folder of everything since 1998. Getting the committee comfortable The biggest risk to any new system isn't the technology, it's adoption. Send a short message to the rest of the committee showing them the overview dashboard and the chair panel, and ask each person to look at just the pages relevant to their role — the treasurer doesn't need to learn the contractor register on day one. Because access is controlled per page, everyone can be added immediately without overwhelming them with everything at once. After setup Once the building, committee and starting documents are in, the natural next step is either your next meeting (bring the agenda in and let minutes draft themselves as you go) or clearing the maintenance backlog into tracked jobs with owners and due dates. Either way, you don't need to have everything perfect before you start using it — most committees find the system becomes more useful as records accumulate rather than needing to be complete on day one. Start the free trial (no card required) Complete the setup wizard: building details, lots, insurance Upload core documents: by-laws, recent minutes, current insurance Invite committee members and set their roles Set manager and owner access page by page Bring in open maintenance jobs and compliance dates

What should we prepare for our first meeting on Flex Strata?

Bring in your agenda items, invite everyone who needs to attend or receive a proxy, and use the meeting tools to record motions as you go so minutes are largely drafted by the time the meeting ends. Running your first meeting through a new system is a good forcing function for tidying up how you've been doing things — most committees discover their old process had gaps once they try to formalise it. Before the meeting Confirm quorum requirements for your scheme and check who's attending or sending a proxy Build the agenda from any open action items, maintenance decisions and compliance items due Send the agenda and any supporting documents (quotes, reports) ahead of time Note which motions need an ordinary, special or unanimous resolution During the meeting Record motions as they're moved, seconded and voted, capturing proxies against the right names. Doing this live, rather than reconstructing it from someone's notebook afterwards, is the single biggest time-saver committees report — minutes end up close to finished by the time the meeting closes rather than being a follow-up task competing with everyone's day job. After the meeting Finalise and distribute the minutes promptly — owners are entitled to timely records, and delays erode trust Turn any resulting actions into tracked items with an owner and a due date so they don't fall through the same cracks that group chats create If a decision needs to happen before the next meeting, that's what a ballot is for rather than an unminuted phone poll A note on proxies Most state strata legislation limits how many proxy votes a single person can hold at one meeting, and requires proxies to be in a particular form. Check your state's rules before the meeting rather than at the door — a proxy rejected on the day can throw out a vote you were relying on.

How do we move off spreadsheets and group chats?

Move deadline-driven information first — compliance dates, open maintenance and current insurance — then bring documents across progressively. You don't need a complete migration before the committee starts using the portal day to day. Almost every committee we hear from is running some combination of a shared drive, a group chat and one volunteer's personal email as the de facto record system. It works, until that volunteer moves house or the group chat's history disappears into an app update. Why the switch is worth it The core problem with spreadsheets and chat threads isn't that they're free — it's that the information is scattered by person rather than organised by building. When a secretary or treasurer steps down, whatever lived in their head or their inbox often goes with them. A structured record that belongs to the building survives every committee turnover. What to prioritise Anything with a hard deadline: insurance renewal dates, essential services checks, contractor insurance expiries Open items: maintenance jobs waiting on quotes or approval, disputes in progress Foundational documents: by-laws, the strata plan, recent AGM minutes Contact details for your committee, manager and regular contractors What can wait Ten years of old invoices, superseded versions of documents, and historical email threads don't need to move on day one. If they matter later, they can be added when someone has time, without blocking the committee from using the current system now. Handling the group chat problem Group chats are genuinely useful for quick coordination, but they're a poor place for decisions because there's no clean record of what was actually agreed. Committee Hub is built to solve exactly this — a private thread the committee can use for discussion, with the decision attached to the discussion that produced it, rather than buried forty messages up. A realistic timeline Most committees find the mechanical part of moving core documents and open items takes an hour or two. The bigger shift is habit — training everyone to make decisions and store documents in one place instead of six. That typically settles within a meeting cycle or two, especially once people notice they stop being asked "does anyone have that PDF?"

How does handover work when the committee changes?

Because records live with the building rather than a person, handover is mostly a permissions change: remove the outgoing member, invite their replacement, and the new committee sees the full history from day one. Committee handover is where most informal systems fail. A secretary resigns, a treasurer moves overseas, and whatever lived in their personal inbox or laptop leaves with them — sometimes permanently. The traditional handover problem Under the shoebox-of-PDFs model, an incoming committee typically inherits an incomplete picture: some documents on a USB stick, some in an old email account nobody can access, and institutional knowledge that was never written down at all. New committee members spend their first few months rediscovering things the outgoing committee already knew, and mistakes get repeated because nobody remembers why a decision was made a particular way. How it works differently on Flex Strata Every meeting, decision, document, maintenance job and compliance item is attached to the building's record, not to an individual's account. When a committee position changes hands: Remove the outgoing member's access Invite the incoming member and assign their role They see the full history immediately — past meetings, minutes, open maintenance jobs, compliance status and documents There's no export, no handover meeting required to transfer knowledge that only exists in someone's head, and no risk of a gap if the outgoing person is unreachable. What still needs a real handover conversation The system preserves the written record, but it can't replace context that was never documented — an informal understanding with a neighbour about a shared fence, or why the committee decided against a particular contractor last year. It's worth the outgoing and incoming office-bearer having a short conversation covering anything that isn't already written down, even with a good system in place. Elections and AGMs Handover typically follows the AGM, where committee positions are elected or re-elected under your scheme's rules. Once the new committee is confirmed in the minutes, updating access in the portal takes a couple of minutes rather than a working bee.

Can Flex Strata replace our strata manager?

Flex Strata gives committees a cashbook, levy notices and arrears tracking, but it is not a licensed managing agent and does not provide trust accounting. Many committees use it alongside a manager, and some self-managed schemes use it as their core record system. Whether a scheme needs a professional strata manager is a legal and practical question that goes well beyond software, but it's a common one when committees start looking at tools like this. What a strata manager actually does Depending on the management agreement, a strata manager typically handles levy collection and arrears, budget preparation, trust accounting, insurance placement, meeting administration, and acting as the scheme's point of contact for statutory notices. Many of these duties — particularly trust accounting and levy collection — carry legal obligations that a committee taking on self-management needs to understand fully before stepping away from a manager. Where Flex Strata fits for managed schemes If you keep a manager, Flex Strata gives the committee its own record of meetings, decisions, maintenance and compliance that sits alongside whatever the manager runs — useful for committees who feel like they only see the building's story through a monthly report. Your manager can be given a seat with view-only access by default, extended to whatever pages the committee decides. Where it fits for self-managed schemes Self-managed buildings — those that have chosen not to engage a manager, which is legal in every Australian state within scheme size and complexity limits — use Flex Strata as their core committee record: meetings, maintenance, compliance, documents and communication. Flex Strata includes a cashbook, fee notices and arrears tracking, but self-managed committees still need to cover budgets, audits and any trust accounting obligations themselves. That's what the full Strata Pages product, a bookkeeper, or a hybrid model with limited managing agent services covers. The honest answer Flex Strata is not a substitute for the statutory and financial duties a manager performs. It's a substitute for the group chats, shared drives and personal inboxes that otherwise hold a committee's operational record — whether or not you have a manager.

What happens after the free trial ends?

The trial runs with no card required. When it ends, you choose a plan based on your lot count and continue with all your data intact, or the trial simply lapses if you decide not to continue. Committees are understandably wary of trials that quietly convert into paid subscriptions. Flex Strata's trial is structured to avoid that. How the trial works You start the 7-day trial without entering payment details. During that time you have full access to set up your building, invite your committee, upload documents, and run through a real meeting or maintenance job to see whether the workflow suits how your committee actually operates. At the end of the trial Because no card is on file, nothing charges automatically. If you want to continue, you choose a plan — priced per building, covering the committee and an included number of lots, with a small per-lot amount added above that threshold — and everything you set up during the trial carries straight through. If you don't continue If the committee decides not to proceed, the trial simply lapses. There's no cancellation call required and no charge to dispute, because none was ever taken. Making the most of the seven days The trial is short enough that it pays to be deliberate. Set up the building and lots on day one, invite the committee in the first few days, bring in your current maintenance backlog and compliance dates, then run something live — a real meeting, ballot or maintenance quote — so the decision about continuing is based on real use rather than a guess. Switching plans later Pricing is based on lot count and billing frequency (monthly or annual, with annual priced at ten months for twelve). If your building's lot count changes, or you decide annual billing suits your budgeting better, you can adjust at renewal.

What is Committee Hub?

Committee Hub is a private discussion space for the committee, separate from owners, where conversations and the decisions they produce stay attached to each other rather than scattered across email and group chats. Every committee needs somewhere to talk that isn't the AGM and isn't a public notice board. Committee Hub is that space, built into the portal rather than bolted on as a separate app. What it's for Committee Hub holds private threads for the committee — and anyone the committee chooses to invite into a specific thread, such as a manager or a contractor being consulted on a job. It's not a replacement for formal meetings and resolutions; it's the space where a decision gets discussed and shaped before it's formally moved, and where day-to-day coordination happens that doesn't need a full agenda item. Why keep it separate from owner notices Owners are entitled to see certain records and notices, but a committee also needs room to discuss things frankly before a position is settled — how to respond to a difficult owner, whether to accept a particular quote, how to word a sensitive notice. Committee Hub keeps this discussion private to the committee (and whoever else is invited into a specific thread), while notices and formal records remain visible to owners through their own separate pages. How it's different from a group chat The core difference is that a Committee Hub thread stays where it was created — attached to the building's record permanently — rather than living in a personal phone that changes hands when a committee member's term ends. Decisions reached in a thread can be pointed to later ("we agreed this in the roof leak thread on 12 March") instead of being paraphrased from memory months afterward. What it isn't Committee Hub doesn't replace the formal record of a meeting — motions, resolutions and minutes still belong in the meetings tools, which generate a proper record capable of showing quorum, proxies and voting outcomes. Hub threads are the informal, ongoing conversation layer underneath that formal record.

What's the difference between a Hub thread and a notice to owners?

A Hub thread is private committee discussion, visible only to invited participants. A notice is a formal, one-way communication sent to some or all owners, with a record of what was sent and to whom. Committees sometimes conflate "talking about something" with "telling owners something," but they serve different purposes and different audiences on Flex Strata. Committee Hub threads Private to the committee, plus anyone specifically invited into that thread Used for discussion, working through options, and coordinating before a decision is formalised Not visible to owners by default Notices A formal communication sent to a single lot or to the whole building Used to inform owners of something — a meeting date, a works schedule, a change to a by-law Stored with a send history, so there's a record of what went out and when, avoiding the "we never received that" dispute Choosing the right tool If the committee is working out how to respond to a complaint, or discussing which of three quotes to accept, that belongs in a Hub thread. Once a decision affects owners — a special levy is being considered, works are starting on a certain date, a by-law breach process has started — that's when a formal notice (or, for financial matters, a motion at a meeting) is the right vehicle. A common mistake A frequent failure mode in strata committees is discussing sensitive matters in a channel owners can also see, or conversely, making a decision privately and never formally communicating it to affected owners. Keeping the private (Hub) and public (notices) channels clearly separated, and being deliberate about which is used for what, avoids both problems. Who decides what owners see The committee controls what's shared with owners at all — documents, notices, meeting records and more all sit behind permissions the committee sets, so nothing becomes visible to owners by accident.

Can we invite our manager or a contractor into a Hub thread?

Yes. Committee Hub threads support inviting people outside the standing committee — such as a strata manager or a contractor — into a single thread, without giving them broader access to the rest of the portal. One of the more useful things about a thread-based discussion tool is that access can be scoped to exactly the conversation someone needs to be part of, rather than all-or-nothing. Why scoped invites matter Under a lot of informal systems, involving a contractor in a discussion means either forwarding emails piecemeal (and losing context) or adding them to a group chat where they can see everything the committee discusses, including unrelated and sometimes sensitive matters. Neither is ideal. How it works A committee member can invite a specific person — a strata manager, building manager, or contractor being consulted on a job — into a single Hub thread. That person sees only that thread, not the rest of Committee Hub or the portal generally, unless they're separately given a broader seat with wider access. Typical situations to use this for Getting a contractor's input on scope before finalising a quote request Looping a building manager into a specific maintenance decision without giving them standing access to every committee conversation Consulting the strata manager on a legal or procedural question relevant to one matter What this doesn't replace This is different from giving someone a full seat in the portal — managers and building managers who need ongoing access get their own seat type with page-level permissions set by the committee. Thread invites are for one-off or matter-specific involvement, while seats are for standing roles. Keeping control Because each invite is scoped to a single thread, removing someone's access when the matter is resolved is straightforward, and it doesn't affect anything else they might separately have access to in the portal.

How do we stop decisions getting lost in chat threads?

Attach the decision to the discussion that produced it rather than relying on memory: use Hub threads for discussion, capture the actual decision clearly at the end, and turn any resulting action into a tracked item with an owner and a due date. Losing track of decisions is one of the most common complaints committees raise about their previous systems — someone remembers agreeing to something, nobody can find where. Why decisions get lost In an unstructured group chat, a decision is usually buried somewhere in the middle of forty messages, mixed in with jokes, unrelated logistics and half-finished sentences. By the time someone needs to refer back to it — often months later, when a dispute arises — nobody can find the exact message, and memories of what was actually agreed start to diverge. A better pattern Use a Hub thread for the back-and-forth discussion When the committee reaches a view, post a clear closing message stating the decision plainly If the decision requires action, create a tracked action item immediately, with a named owner and a due date, rather than leaving it as a sentence in the thread If the decision is significant enough to need formal authority — spending above a threshold, a by-law change — take it to a meeting or a ballot for a proper resolution Why the discussion-to-action step matters A decision that isn't converted into a tracked task tends to quietly not happen. Whoever raised it assumes someone else picked it up; whoever might have picked it up didn't realise it was theirs. Action items with a named owner close that gap. For anything with legal weight Some decisions — spending commitments above the committee's approval authority, by-law enforcement action, anything affecting owners' rights — need more than a Hub thread agreement. They need a properly moved and recorded resolution at a meeting, or a ballot, so there's a resolution the scheme can rely on if it's ever challenged.

How is Committee Hub different from email or group chat?

Committee Hub threads stay attached to the building's record permanently and are organised by topic, unlike email (scattered across inboxes) or group chat (unsearchable and tied to personal phones). Nothing is lost when a committee member's term ends. It's a fair question — on the surface, a thread of messages looks a lot like an email chain or a group chat. The differences show up over time, not on day one. The problem with email Email lives in individual inboxes. When the secretary who was cc'd on everything steps down, that history usually goes with them unless someone thinks to forward everything first — which rarely happens comprehensively. Threads also fragment: a decision might be split across three separate email chains with different subject lines, forwarded inconsistently to different committee members. The problem with group chat Group chats are fast and low-friction, which is exactly why they're bad for anything that needs to be found again later. There's no topic structure, decisions are mixed in with logistics and small talk, and search is often poor. If a committee member changes phones or leaves the group, whatever context they had usually leaves too. What Committee Hub does differently Threads are organised by topic rather than being one continuous stream Everything stays attached to the building's account, not a person's device Access persists correctly through committee handovers, because it's managed by role, not by phone number Specific outsiders (a manager, a contractor) can be invited into just the relevant thread When email and chat still have a place Committee Hub isn't trying to replace every communication channel a committee uses — a quick text to confirm someone's running late to a site visit doesn't need a permanent record. The point is that anything worth remembering — decisions, ongoing issues, matters that might come up again — has a proper home instead of being wherever it happened to be typed.

Who can see our Committee Hub threads?

By default, only committee members can see Committee Hub threads. A specific outsider — a manager or contractor — can be invited into a single thread, and owners without a committee or manager seat cannot see Hub content at all. Access to Committee Hub follows the same page-level permission model used throughout Flex Strata, applied specifically to committee discussion. Default visibility Standing committee members — chair, secretary, treasurer and ordinary members — see Committee Hub as part of their normal access. This is where the private, working-level discussion happens, distinct from anything shared publicly with owners. Owners and Committee Hub Owners who are not on the committee do not see Committee Hub content by default. Owner-facing access is limited to whatever the committee explicitly switches on for them — typically documents, notices, meetings records, requests and similar — never the committee's internal discussion threads. Managers, building managers and contractors A strata or building manager with a standing seat sees whatever pages the committee has switched on for their role — which may or may not include Committee Hub, depending on how much the committee wants to include them in day-to-day discussion versus formal reporting only. A contractor with no standing seat can still be invited into one specific thread without being given a seat at all. Changing access If a committee member's role changes, or someone leaves the committee, their access to Hub threads is removed the same way any other access is — through the people and access settings, not by manually deleting messages. Why this matters for governance Keeping Hub discussion visible only to the people who need it protects candid, working-level conversation — the sort every committee needs to have honestly — while still ensuring the *decisions* that come out of that discussion get properly communicated to owners through the right formal channel when required.

How should we use Committee Hub in the lead-up to our AGM?

Use Hub threads to work through agenda items, draft motions and resolve open questions before the meeting, so the AGM itself runs from a well-prepared agenda instead of first discussing everything live in the room. AGM season tends to be when committees generate the most informal discussion — chasing quotes, finalising the agenda, confirming who's standing for election — and it's a good test of whether your discussion tools are holding up. Preparing motions in advance Rather than drafting a motion for the first time at the meeting, use a Hub thread in the weeks beforehand to work out the wording, check it against any relevant by-law or legislative requirement, and confirm the committee is aligned before it goes on the formal agenda. This tends to produce cleaner motions and shorter meetings. Coordinating logistics Venue or video link details, confirming who needs a proxy form, chasing outstanding quotes that need to be tabled — all of this is well suited to a Hub thread rather than a flurry of separate emails or texts in the final week. Keeping the AGM record separate It's worth being clear with the committee that Hub discussion in the lead-up isn't the AGM record itself. The formal agenda, motions, proxies and minutes belong in the meetings tools and follow your state's requirements for notice periods, quorum and resolution types — the Hub conversation is preparation, not a substitute. After the AGM Once the AGM is done and minutes are finalised, any resulting actions — works approved, compliance items raised, new committee members needing access — should move into tracked action items and access changes straight away, rather than staying as commitments floating in a thread.

What is a strata committee and what does it actually do?

A strata committee is the small group of owners elected each year to manage everyday decisions for the scheme between general meetings — approving routine maintenance, engaging contractors, enforcing by-laws and preparing for the AGM — while bigger decisions still go to all owners. Almost every strata scheme in Australia has one, but the practical job it does often surprises new members. What a strata committee is It's a group of lot owners (or, in some states, others in limited circumstances) elected by owners at a general meeting to act on the scheme's behalf between meetings. Numbers, terminology and formal powers vary by state — check your state's page for the specifics: [NSW](/help), [VIC](/help), [QLD](/help) and others. What it does day to day Approves routine, lower-value maintenance and repairs without needing a full owners' meeting Engages and manages contractors for approved work Handles correspondence, requests and enquiries from owners Keeps records — minutes, compliance items, notices — up to date Prepares the agenda and paperwork for the AGM and any general meetings Deals with by-law compliance issues as they arise What it doesn't do A committee generally can't make decisions that are reserved for all owners by legislation — things like large capital works, by-law changes, or spending above a threshold set by the scheme or the Act. Those need a resolution at a general meeting or a ballot, not just a committee decision. Flex Strata doesn't handle the financial side of this — levies, budgets and arrears sit with your treasurer or manager's accounting system. Why the distinction matters Confusing "the committee decided" with "the owners decided" is one of the most common governance mistakes in strata. Knowing which bucket a decision falls into avoids resolutions being challenged later for lack of proper authority — see our related item on committee decisions versus owners' votes for the practical line to draw. Keeping the committee's work organised In practice, most committee work is coordination: agendas, minutes, maintenance requests, contractor quotes, compliance registers and notices to owners. Flex Strata is built around exactly that workflow, keeping the record attached to the scheme rather than scattered across individuals' inboxes.

Are strata committee members personally liable for decisions they make?

Committee members who act reasonably, in good faith and within their authority are generally protected, with the owners corporation carrying most liability rather than individuals. Rules and protections differ by state, so check your state's legislation for the specifics that apply to your scheme. This is one of the most common worries for people considering standing for a committee, and the short answer is reassuring — but the details genuinely vary by jurisdiction. The general principle In most Australian states, the owners corporation (not individual committee members) is the legal entity that holds property, enters contracts and carries insurance. Committee members acting reasonably, honestly and within the scope of decisions properly put to the committee are generally not personally exposed for those decisions turning out badly. Where the protection can weaken Acting outside the committee's actual authority — for example, committing the scheme to spending well beyond an approved threshold without proper authorisation Acting in bad faith, recklessly, or with a conflict of interest that wasn't declared Ignoring clear legal or safety obligations, such as known compliance or maintenance issues Why this varies by state Each state's strata legislation sets out committee powers, obligations and protections differently, and insurance arrangements (such as office bearer liability cover) differ between schemes. This is genuinely a "check your own state's Act, and your scheme's insurance policy" question rather than one with a single Australia-wide answer. Start with your state's page — [NSW](/help), [VIC](/help), [QLD](/help) — and your state's regulator for the current rules, and speak to your strata manager or a lawyer for anything you're unsure about. Practical steps that reduce risk Stay within any spend approval thresholds the scheme has set Declare conflicts of interest before a matter is discussed, not after Keep a proper record of what was discussed and decided, and why Get it in writing when relying on a contractor's or professional's advice Refer anything genuinely uncertain to the strata manager or a lawyer rather than guessing How Flex Strata helps Keeping agendas, minutes, spend approvals and conflict declarations in one attached record doesn't remove legal risk, but it does mean a committee can show what was actually decided, by whom, and on what basis, if a decision is ever questioned later.

Can a strata committee member be removed?

Yes — most states allow owners to remove a committee member by resolution at a general meeting, and some allow removal for specific reasons such as ceasing to be an owner. The exact process and grounds depend on your state's legislation, so check the rules that apply to your scheme. Committee membership isn't necessarily permanent for the length of the annual term — there are ways to end it early, though the process differs across states. Common grounds for removal A resolution passed by owners at a general meeting to remove a member The person ceasing to be an owner (or, where relevant, an owner's nominated representative) of a lot in the scheme The person becoming ineligible under the scheme's by-laws or state legislation Resignation (see our related item on resigning from the committee) Why the process matters Because committee decisions can affect all owners, most states require removal to go through a proper process — usually a motion at a general meeting rather than an informal committee vote to exclude someone. Trying to remove a member outside the correct process can leave the removal open to challenge later, and the person may still be entitled to attend meetings and vote until it's properly done. State-by-state differences The specific grounds, notice requirements and voting thresholds for removing a committee member differ by state. Rather than assume your neighbour's building's process applies to you, check your state's legislation or regulator, and your state's overview page — [NSW](/help), [VIC](/help), [QLD](/help) and others — for the current position. What happens to their access afterwards Once a member is properly removed or steps down, their access to committee records and tools should be updated straight away — removed from Committee Hub threads, any seat-based portal access adjusted, and action items reassigned if they were holding any. Leaving a former member with lingering access is a common oversight after a contested departure. Disputes about removal If a removal is disputed — for example, the member says the process wasn't followed correctly — this becomes a governance dispute that may need to go to your state's tribunal or dispute resolution body rather than being resolved informally within the committee.

How does a committee member resign from the strata committee?

Most states let a committee member resign by giving written notice, often to the secretary or the strata manager, without needing owners' approval. Check your state's legislation for any specific notice requirements, and make sure access to committee records is updated once the resignation takes effect. Resigning from a strata committee is usually simpler than removing someone, since it doesn't typically require a vote of other owners. The general process Put the resignation in writing — an email or letter to the secretary or strata manager is usually sufficient, though some schemes or states set specific requirements State the effective date clearly Note the resignation in the minutes of the next committee meeting (or sooner, if urgent) Check whether the vacancy needs to be filled before the next AGM, and how — some states allow the remaining committee to co-opt a replacement, others leave the position vacant until the next election State differences Notice requirements, whether resignation must be acknowledged in a particular way, and how vacancies are filled all vary by state legislation. Check your state's legislation or regulator, or your state's page — [NSW](/help), [VIC](/help), [QLD](/help) — for what applies to your scheme. What should happen after a resignation Reassign any action items or ongoing tasks the departing member was responsible for Remove their access to Committee Hub threads and any committee-only records Adjust or remove any portal seat and its permissions Update the committee's public-facing contact list if owners see committee member names A clean handover matters more than the paperwork The formal resignation itself is usually quick, but a messy handover — outstanding tasks nobody picks up, lingering access to sensitive threads, contractors still contacting someone who's left — causes more disruption than the resignation itself. Treating it as a proper handover, not just a departure, avoids that. If the resignation leaves the committee below quorum If enough members resign that the committee can no longer meet a quorum, most states have provisions for calling a general meeting to elect replacements, or in some cases appointing a strata manager with expanded powers temporarily. Check your state's rules if this situation arises. Give written notice of resignation to the secretary or strata manager, stating the effective date Record the resignation in the minutes of the next committee meeting Reassign any outstanding action items or responsibilities Remove the departing member's access to Committee Hub and any committee-only records Check your state's rules on filling the vacancy before the next AGM

Can someone who isn't an owner be on the strata committee?

Generally, strata committees are made up of owners or their nominated representatives (such as a company nominee or a person holding power of attorney), not unrelated non-owners. A few states allow limited exceptions. Check your state's legislation for exactly who is eligible. Eligibility rules exist to keep the committee accountable to the people it represents — the owners — but there are recognised categories of representative that aren't the owner in person. The general rule Most state legislation limits committee membership to owners of lots in the scheme. Someone who isn't an owner and has no formal nomination relationship to one generally can't sit on the committee. Common recognised exceptions A company or corporate owner can usually nominate an individual representative to sit on the committee in its place A person holding a valid power of attorney for an owner may be able to act on their behalf, depending on the state Some states allow a mortgagee in possession, or in specific circumstances a tenant, limited voting rights, but this is not the same as full committee eligibility everywhere — check your state's rules carefully Strata managers and building managers A strata manager or building manager is not a committee member, even where they attend meetings and carry out functions on the committee's behalf. Their role and access are separate from committee membership, and should be set up through their own manager access rather than a committee seat. Why this varies by state and matters to check properly Because eligibility affects whether resolutions passed by the committee are validly made, getting this wrong isn't a minor technicality — an improperly constituted committee can have its decisions challenged. Check your state's legislation or regulator, and your state's page — [NSW](/help), [VIC](/help), [QLD](/help) — before appointing anyone whose eligibility isn't straightforward. Setting up access correctly Whatever the committee's actual composition, Flex Strata's access settings should mirror it accurately — nominee representatives given a proper seat, managers given manager-level access rather than a committee seat, and anyone without eligibility for the committee kept out of committee-only spaces like Committee Hub.

Can strata committee members be paid for their role?

In most Australian states, ordinary committee members serve voluntarily and aren't paid a fee for the role itself, though reasonable expense reimbursement is often allowed. Paying a member for separate work (like tradework) usually needs proper disclosure and approval. Check your state's rules on this. Whether a committee member can receive any payment is a question that touches on conflicts of interest as much as remuneration, so it's worth treating carefully. The general position Most states treat committee membership as a voluntary role, without a standard sitting fee or salary. This reflects the position that committee members are owners acting for their own scheme, not paid officials. Reimbursement of expenses Reasonable, properly authorised expenses — postage, printing, or costs genuinely incurred carrying out committee duties — are more commonly permitted, subject to the scheme's own rules and any approval process the committee has set. Paying a committee member for other work It's not unusual for a committee member to also be a qualified tradesperson, and for the scheme to want to engage them for a specific job. This is allowed in many states, but usually only with: Clear disclosure of the conflict of interest before any decision is made The member not voting on the decision to engage themselves A properly documented quote and approval process, the same as for any other contractor Doing this informally — without disclosure or a paper trail — is one of the more common sources of later disputes between owners and their committee. Where this varies Whether any form of payment is permitted, and what disclosure and approval process is required, depends on your state's legislation and by-laws. Check your state's legislation or regulator, and your state's page — [NSW](/help), [VIC](/help), [QLD](/help) — for the specific position, and get advice if a payment arrangement is being considered. Keeping the record clean Where a payment or reimbursement is genuinely approved, record the disclosure, the decision, and the vote (noting who abstained) in the minutes, and keep supporting invoices or receipts with the scheme's documents. This is the difference between a defensible decision and one that looks like it was made behind closed doors if it's ever questioned.

Committee FAQ

67+ answers for people who actually run the building

Straight answers on meetings, voting, maintenance, compliance, records and owner access — written for committee chairs, secretaries and treasurers in Australian strata schemes.

Getting started

Setting up your committee portal, migrating records and running your first meeting on Flex Strata.

7 answers

Committee Hub

Private committee discussion, decisions and invites — kept separate from owners and attached to a lasting record.

17 answers

Meetings & voting

Running AGMs and committee meetings properly, plus ballots for decisions that can't wait for the next meeting.

7 answers

Maintenance & contractors

Tracking work orders, quotes, invoices and spend approvals, and keeping a proper contractor register.

7 answers

Compliance & documents

Keeping compliance obligations on track and building a document library owners and the committee can actually rely on.

7 answers

Owners & access

Controlling what owners, managers and others can see, and communicating with owners through notices and requests.

7 answers

Strata managers

How Flex Strata fits alongside a strata manager, self-managed schemes, and moving between the two.

7 answers

Pricing & security

What Flex Strata costs, how billing works, and how access, data and records are kept secure.

8 answers

Every question, in one list

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67+ answers for people who actually run the building

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Getting started

Committee Hub

Meetings & voting

Maintenance & contractors

Compliance & documents

Owners & access

Strata managers

Pricing & security

Every question, in one list

What is Flex Strata?

How do we set up our committee's Flex Strata portal?

What should we prepare for our first meeting on Flex Strata?

How do we move off spreadsheets and group chats?

How does handover work when the committee changes?

Can Flex Strata replace our strata manager?

What happens after the free trial ends?

What is Committee Hub?

What's the difference between a Hub thread and a notice to owners?

Can we invite our manager or a contractor into a Hub thread?

How do we stop decisions getting lost in chat threads?

How is Committee Hub different from email or group chat?

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