In Queensland a body corporate must insure the common property and its assets for full replacement value, insure the buildings in most schemes, and hold public risk insurance of at least $10 million. What changes from scheme to scheme is who insures the buildings, and that depends on the survey plan.
Queenslanders call it body corporate insurance. The rest of the country calls it strata insurance. It is the same policy. This guide sets out what the law requires, quoted from the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 and its Standard Module regulation, and what the rules mean for excesses, valuations and commissions.
What insurance must a body corporate have in Queensland?
Three things, under the regulation module that applies to the scheme (this guide quotes the Standard Module):
- Common property and body corporate assets, for full replacement value.
- Buildings, for full replacement value, where the plan makes the body corporate responsible (see the next section).
- Public risk insurance over the common property, for death, illness, injury and property damage, of "at least $10m for a single event; and at least $10m in a single period of insurance".
"must insure, for full replacement value, each building in which is located a lot included in the scheme, to the extent that the building is scheme land."
Body Corporate and Community Management (Standard Module) Regulation 2020, section 198(2), on building format and volumetric format plans
The policy has to reinstate property "to its condition when new" and include removal of debris and professional fees. The damage it must cover is listed too: earthquake, explosion, fire, lightning, storm and water, glass breakage, impact, malicious act and riot (section 195).
Who insures the building: the body corporate or the owner?
It turns on the format of the survey plan, which Titles Queensland can confirm.
| Plan type | Typical building | Who insures the building |
|---|---|---|
| Building format or volumetric format | Apartment blocks, many townhouses | The body corporate |
| Standard format, with a wall shared by two or more lots | Attached townhouses and duplexes | The body corporate |
| Standard format, stand-alone buildings | Detached houses in a gated estate | Each owner, unless the body corporate sets up a voluntary insurance scheme |
Our guide to townhouse and unit block insurance covers what the policy insures on each kind of site. A two-lot scheme is not exempt in Queensland. The Specified Two-lot Schemes Module carries the same duties for buildings, valuations, excess and public risk. Our duplex guide compares this with New South Wales and Victoria.
What is not part of the building in Queensland?
The regulation leaves these out of the building the body corporate insures (section 195):
- carpet, and temporary wall, floor and ceiling coverings
- fixtures a tenant can remove at the end of a lease
- mobile or fixed air-conditioning units servicing a particular lot
- curtains, blinds and other internal window coverings
- dishwashers, clothes dryers and other appliances that are not wired or plumbed in
The air conditioner is the one that catches owners out. A split system that serves only your lot is yours to insure. Those items, and your furniture and belongings, belong on a contents or landlord policy. Our guide to what strata insurance covers shows how one insurer's policy treats the same items.
Who pays the excess on a body corporate claim?
Queensland is the one state with a clear default in the regulation:
"For an event affecting only 1 lot, the owner of the lot is liable to pay the excess unless the body corporate decides it is unreasonable in all the circumstances for the owner to bear the liability."
Standard Module, section 203(3)
Where the event affects two or more lots, or a lot and common property, the body corporate pays the excess unless it decides it is reasonable for an owner to pay or share it (section 203(4)). A body corporate can agree to an excess to lower its premium, but the arrangement must "not impose an unreasonable burden on the owners of individual lots" (section 203(2)). The regulation sets no dollar cap.
How often does a body corporate need a valuation?
"The body corporate must, at least every 5 years, obtain an independent valuation stating the full replacement value of the building or buildings."
Standard Module, section 200(2)
Owners pay for it in proportion to their share of the premium, and the latest valuation figure and date must be in the notice of the annual general meeting.
Must a body corporate manager disclose insurance commission?
Yes, and in dollars. Before the body corporate decides to take out the insurance, a body corporate manager who will receive a commission, payment or other benefit must give written notice disclosing it (Standard Module, section 156). The annual general meeting notice must also disclose any financial or other benefit from an insurer or broker.
Our news explainer on commissions in strata insurance covers how those payments work and what regulators have found.
What if a building cannot get insurance?
A body corporate that cannot obtain the required cover can apply to an adjudicator for an alternative insurance order (Act, section 189(3)). The alternative has to be as similar as practicable to the cover the regulation requires.
Has the cyclone pool lowered premiums in North Queensland?
The Cyclone Reinsurance Pool has operated since 1 July 2022 and covers residential strata, including mixed-use schemes where at least half the floor space is residential. The ACCC's final monitoring report in June 2026 found "an 8% reduction in the average strata insurance premium per $100,000 sum insured in medium to high cyclone risk areas". For buildings paying the highest premiums the falls were larger: 28% in Townsville, 23% in Mackay and 19% in Cairns.
Our news story on the ACCC's final report has the detail.
The quote shows the base premium, each charge and our commission in dollars.
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- Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld): legislation.qld.gov.au
- Body Corporate and Community Management (Standard Module) Regulation 2020, sections 156, 195 to 209: legislation.qld.gov.au
- Queensland Government, body corporate insurance premiums and excess: qld.gov.au
- Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation, cyclone pool: arpc.gov.au
- ACCC, Insurance monitoring report, 25 June 2026: accc.gov.au
General information only, not legal advice. Section numbers are from the Standard Module; schemes on other regulation modules have equivalent provisions with different numbers. Read from the legislation in November 2026.
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