Short answer
A levy notice is the written notice the owners corporation gives each owner setting out the contribution they must pay and the date it’s due. Under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW), the due date must be at least 30 days after the notice is given. Paying by that date keeps the owner financial and avoids interest.
What the notice does
The levy notice is the formal demand for a contribution the owners have already approved (usually at the AGM, or by a special resolution for a special levy). It tells each owner how much their lot owes for the period and when to pay. Until a notice is given, a contribution isn’t yet due — the notice is what starts the clock.
How much notice must be given
The Act requires the due date to be at least 30 days after the notice is issued (section 83). So an owner must always get a month’s warning before a levy falls due. There’s a narrow exception: where a special levy is raised for urgent repairs, the notice period can be shorter — at least 14 days. Confirm the timing for a specific levy with NSW Fair Trading or a licensed strata manager, as the shorter window only applies in defined urgent cases.
If a notice looks wrong
An owner who thinks a levy notice is incorrect — wrong amount, wrong lot, wrong period — should raise it with the committee or manager promptly rather than simply not paying. The contribution stays payable while a query is sorted out, and non-payment can attract interest even if the query is later resolved in the owner’s favour.
Getting notices out on time, every quarter
The 30-day rule and the per-lot amounts have to be right on every notice, every period — a late or wrong notice can unwind an interest charge or a recovery step later. Straita generates each owner’s levy notice from the approved budget and unit-entitlement split, dates it correctly for the 30-day rule, and sends it — so a self-managed committee issues clean, on-time notices without rebuilding the spreadsheet each quarter.
Primary sources
- Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) — levying of contributions and the notice/due-date rule (s 83).
- NSW Government — Strata schemes (Fair Trading) — levy notices and paying levies.