Short answer
Strata title divides a single building (or closely grouped buildings) into lots plus shared common property, run by an owners corporation. Community title is a broader structure used for larger estates — a shared “association property” managed by a community association, which can have individual strata schemes nested inside it. They serve different scales and are governed by different Acts.
Two different scales
Both arrangements give you private ownership of your own lot plus a share of common facilities, but they’re built for different sizes of development.
- Strata title is the model for an apartment block or townhouse group: lots and common property within one scheme.
- Community title (and its relatives, precinct and neighbourhood schemes) is used for master-planned estates and gated communities: a wider layer of shared land — roads, parks, gatehouses, shared facilities — held as association property and managed by a community association. Individual strata schemes can sit within a community scheme, so a resident may belong to both.
The laws are genuinely different
This is the important distinction, not just a naming one. Strata title is governed by the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (management) and the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 (creation and subdivision). Community title is governed by an entirely separate pair of Acts: the Community Land Management Act 2021 (management) and the Community Land Development Act 2021 (creation and subdivision), which commenced in December 2021.
So while the concepts rhyme — lots, shared property, a governing body, levies, by-laws — the actual rules, bodies and procedures come from different legislation. A community association is not an owners corporation, and its obligations are set by the community land Acts, not the SSMA.
Flag: because community, precinct and neighbourhood schemes run under the Community Land Management Act 2021 and Community Land Development Act 2021 — not the strata Acts — don’t apply strata-Act rules to the community layer. Check the correct Act for the level you’re dealing with.
Where they overlap in practice
An owner in a strata scheme inside a community scheme deals with both layers: their owners corporation for the building, and the community association for the estate-wide shared property, each with its own levies and rules. Sorting out which body is responsible for a given cost or repair is often the first practical question.
Keeping the strata layer of it in order
Whatever sits above it, the strata scheme you’re part of still has its own recurring obligations, levies and records to keep straight. Straita is built for the strata layer — it keeps a self-managed scheme’s obligations and deadlines tracked and surfaced in time — so even where a community association handles the estate around you, your own scheme doesn’t fall behind.
Primary sources
- Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) — governs strata scheme management.
- Community Land Management Act 2021 (NSW) — governs community, precinct and neighbourhood scheme management.
- Community Land Development Act 2021 (NSW) — governs creation and subdivision of community schemes.