The latest stage of New South Wales's strata reforms started on 1 October 2026. It makes two changes. Strata committee members now have to complete free online training soon after they are appointed, and two-lot schemes, which are mostly duplexes, no longer report to Strata Hub each year.
Both come from the Strata Schemes Management Amendment Regulation 2026. They are the fifth stage of the changes that followed the government's 2021 statutory review of strata laws, after stages in December 2023, July 2025, October 2025 and April 2026. This post sets out what changed on 1 October. Next week's post looks at the training in detail.
Training for strata committee members
A strata committee member appointed on or after 1 October 2026 has three months from their appointment to complete NSW Fair Trading's online course, Introduction to Strata Committee Rights and Responsibilities. It is free, it runs on Strata Hub, and Fair Trading says it takes about an hour.
A member who hasn't completed it in time stops being a committee member automatically. Nobody has to vote them off or send them a notice for that to happen.
It applies to returning members as well as new ones, so a member re-elected at an AGM has three months from then. In practice, most committees come under it at their next AGM. A member appointed before 1 October 2026 doesn't have to do the course until they are next appointed.
Some committee members don't have to do it:
- members of the committee of a two-lot scheme
- members of the Australian College of Strata Lawyers
- NSW strata managing agents
- anyone filling a casual vacancy for less than three months.
The training also doesn't apply to the committee of a community land association. Fair Trading says the introductory course only has to be done once, and that it will publish details of further training in 2027.
Two-lot schemes no longer report each year
Every strata scheme in New South Wales has to report information about itself to NSW Fair Trading through Strata Hub within three months after each AGM, and pay a fee of $3 a lot. The information includes the scheme's address, its lots, its insurance, its capital works fund balance and its office-bearers' contact details.
From 1 October 2026, two-lot schemes don't have to report each year. Fair Trading points to duplexes as the usual example. Schemes with three or more lots carry on reporting as before.
What's next
- More strata changes before Parliament. The government's next package, the Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2025, has passed the Legislative Assembly. It is waiting in the Legislative Council.
- Further committee training. Fair Trading says it will publish details of training beyond the introductory course in 2027.
- Building approvals. The Building (Approvals and Practitioners) Act 2026 will change how the strata Act refers to building approvals, including the documents a developer hands over at the first AGM. It takes effect on a date still to be set.
Where Quarter fits
Ask the manager in Quarter about any of this, such as "does our new treasurer need to do the training?" It answers from NSW Fair Trading's guidance and from the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 and its Regulation, and can quote the provision it relied on.
Fair Trading's summary of every stage of the reforms is on its changes to strata laws page.