NSW Strata Committee Training: Mandatory from 1 October 2026

Updated 28 September 2026: This article originally reported a 1 July 2026 start date. NSW Fair Trading has confirmed the requirement starts on 1 October 2026 and applies to returning committee members as well as new ones. The article below reflects the current rules.

The strata committee chair received the notification on a Thursday. An email from NSW Fair Trading, reminding her that her role now came with a formal training requirement and a three-month deadline from her date of election. She had served on the committee of her Sydney apartment building for six years without any such requirement. This was new.

She is one of roughly 200,000 people who serve on strata committees across NSW. From 1 October 2026, anyone appointed or reappointed to a NSW strata scheme committee is required to complete mandatory training - and the consequence of not completing it is not a fine or a warning. It is automatic removal from the committee.

Related: Owners Corporation Fees NSW: A Complete Guide explains how strata levies work, what Sydney apartments typically pay, and how the wider 2025-26 reforms affect your costs - the committee you sit on controls that budget.

What the Requirement Is

The mandatory training requirement is part of the NSW Government's ongoing strata law reform program, which has been rolling out in phases since 2023. The training requirement itself applies to anyone appointed or reappointed to a strata committee in NSW on or after 1 October 2026.

The obligation works as follows:

• A committee member has three months from their appointment date to complete the required training.
• The training is a free, self-paced online module - Introduction to Strata Committee Rights and Responsibilities - that takes about an hour. It is delivered by NSW Fair Trading through Strata Hub. Once completed, it does not need to be repeated in future years; NSW Fair Trading has said it will publish details of additional training in 2027.
• Members who do not complete the training within the three-month window are automatically removed from the committee.
• The removal is automatic under the legislation - it is not a discretionary penalty that another body corporate or committee can waive.

The intent behind the requirement is sound. Strata committees hold significant authority over tens of thousands of dollars in annual spending, insurance procurement, maintenance decisions, and contractor appointments. Many committee members are new to the role and have no formal context for the legal and financial responsibilities they are taking on. The training gives them a baseline.

Who It Applies To

The requirement applies to new and returning committee members appointed on or after 1 October 2026, and to anyone filling a casual vacancy for more than three months. If you were appointed before 1 October 2026, you do not need to do the training until you are next appointed - though you can choose to do it earlier.

That means long-serving members are caught too: if you are re-elected at your next AGM after 1 October 2026, the three-month clock starts from that re-election. This is a detail that several strata managers and committee members have missed in early commentary on the reforms - the trigger is the date of appointment, not the date the legislation commenced.

The requirement applies to:

• All committee members, including officers (chair, secretary, treasurer) and ordinary members
• Both self-managed and professionally managed schemes

It does not apply to:

• Committee members in two-lot schemes
• Committee members who are NSW strata managing agents or members of the Australian College of Strata Lawyers
• People filling a casual vacancy for less than three months

What the Training Covers

The NSW Fair Trading module addresses the core legal and practical framework that committee members operate within. Based on information published alongside the reforms, key areas include:

• The role and responsibilities of the strata committee under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015
• The difference between administrative fund and capital works fund management
• Proper meeting and voting procedures, including what constitutes a valid decision
• Conflict of interest obligations and when to declare or abstain
• How to handle owner complaints and maintenance requests
• Committee member liability protections and when they apply

The training does not require any prior knowledge of strata law. It is designed for people who have just volunteered for a committee role, not for lawyers or strata professionals.

The Three Things Committees Should Do Now

1. Understand your next AGM date and plan ahead

If your building holds its AGM after 1 October 2026, any committee member elected at that AGM - including anyone re-elected - will be subject to the training requirement from their election date. The three-month window starts then - not from when NSW Fair Trading sends a reminder, and not from when your strata manager tells you about it.

Strata managers should be communicating this to committees proactively. If yours has not, it is worth raising before the next election cycle.

2. Encourage re-nominating members to complete training before they stand

There is no rule requiring completion before election - the three months runs after election. But NSW Fair Trading says anyone can do the training at any time, including people thinking of joining their committee, and completing it before standing means it is done. The practical disruption of having a committee member removed three months after an AGM (because they forgot, were busy, or thought the requirement applied to someone else) is significant. It can trigger a casual vacancy process, reduce quorum, and in small committees create genuine governance problems.

3. Keep records

Members receive a Certificate of Completion on finishing the online module. NSW Fair Trading's guidance is that the committee secretary should collect certificates from committee members and keep copies for at least one year, along with copies of any notices sent to members about the training.

What Happens If a Member Doesn't Complete Training

A committee member who has not completed training within three months of appointment is automatically removed from the committee. The mechanism is not one that requires a vote - it operates by force of the legislation.

In practical terms:

• The strata manager is typically responsible for monitoring compliance and advising the committee when a removal obligation arises.
• The position becomes vacant, and the committee must fill it either through the casual vacancy procedure (co-opting a replacement until the next AGM) or by calling an extraordinary general meeting.
• In a small committee - say, three or four members - losing one member through non-compliance can materially affect the committee's ability to form quorum.

The potential for administrative disruption here is real. It is not the intention of the reform to destabilise well-functioning committees, but the mechanism leaves no room for "they just didn't get around to it."

Why This Reform Matters

The strata sector in NSW manages an estimated $1.2 trillion in collective property assets, spread across approximately 87,000 registered schemes. Most of the day-to-day decision making in those schemes sits with volunteer committees who have no formal qualification requirement and widely varying awareness of their legal obligations.

The reform does not solve every governance problem in NSW strata. But it sets a floor. The one-hour online module that a newly elected treasurer must now complete within three months of taking the role is not onerous. It may, however, prevent some of the more avoidable mistakes that drive up costs, create disputes, and occasionally expose committee members to personal liability.

For most NSW schemes, the practical change is modest. But schemes that treat the requirement casually and miss the three-month window will find it is not modest at all.

Key Takeaways

• Mandatory training applies from 1 October 2026 to NSW strata committee members appointed or reappointed from that date, regardless of experience. Two-lot schemes are exempt.
• Three months from appointment is the window for completion. Missing it means automatic removal from the committee.
• The training is free, online through NSW Fair Trading's Strata Hub, and takes approximately one hour. You only need to complete it once.
• Returning members are covered, so even long-serving committee members face this requirement if they are re-elected after 1 October 2026.
• Committees that plan ahead - by encouraging training completion before the AGM or immediately after - avoid the governance disruption of a mid-term vacancy.

Compare body corporate fees across Australia at BodyCorporateFees.com.

This article is for informational purposes only and reflects the NSW strata law reforms as understood at time of publication. Confirm current training requirements and deadlines with NSW Fair Trading or your strata manager before taking action.