Short answer
Strata levies are usually paid quarterly — every three months — but the frequency is a decision of the owners corporation, set when it approves the budget and contributions each year. Some schemes bill monthly or half-yearly instead. Whatever the frequency, each owner must be given at least 30 days’ notice before a levy is due.
The quarterly norm
Most NSW schemes bill levies four times a year, aligned to the budget the owners approve at the annual general meeting. The owners decide the total to be raised for each fund for the year, and that total is then split into instalments across the year. Quarterly is by far the most common pattern because it keeps the fund topped up steadily without large one-off payments.
The owners set the frequency
The Act leaves the timing to the owners corporation — it can resolve to levy contributions at whatever regular interval it chooses. A smaller scheme with modest costs might levy less often; one saving hard toward major works might levy more frequently. The frequency is decided with the budget, not fixed in law.
Notice still applies each time
Whatever the interval, each levy is only due once a notice has been issued and the due date has arrived — and that due date must be at least 30 days after the notice is given (what a levy notice must show). So even a regular quarterly levy needs its notice out in good time.
Keeping the levy cycle running
A quarterly cycle only stays clean if every notice goes out on schedule, to the right owner, for the right share. Straita runs the levy calendar for a self-managed scheme — generating each period’s notices from the approved budget and the unit-entitlement split, and dating them for the 30-day rule — so the committee sets the frequency once and the notices simply arrive on time.
Primary sources
- Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) — estimates, levying of contributions and the notice/due-date rule (ss 79–83).
- NSW Government — Strata schemes (Fair Trading) — levies and how they’re paid.