What's the difference between strata title and body corporate?

Strata title (legal): created under state Strata Schemes legislation (Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 NSW, Owners Corporations Act 2006 VIC, Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 QLD). Each lot has its own title in the Land Registry; you can mortgage / sell / lease your lot independently. Common property (lobby, lifts, gardens, roof, walls between lots) is jointly owned by all lot owners as tenants-in-common via the body corporate / owners corporation. Body corporate / OC (governance): the legal entity comprised of all lot owners. Holds funds, makes decisions about the common property, hires building managers, collects levies. Decisions made via committee (elected lot owners) + AGM. State regulator: NSW Fair Trading + Strata, Consumer Affairs Vic, QLD BCCM Office.

Practical distinction: 'strata fees' is shorthand for body-corporate / OC levies. Levies cover (a) admin fund, day-to-day running, (b) sinking / capital-works fund, long-term major repairs (roof, lifts, plumbing), (c) optional special levies for unbudgeted major works. Sinking-fund balance is the single most-asked question pre-purchase: low balance + ageing building = special-levy risk. Section 184 / s171 disclosure (NSW / VIC) gives you the financial position before you sign.

Buyer-side check: request the body-corporate disclosure pack pre-contract. Look at: 5-year levy trend, sinking-fund balance vs replacement-asset value, recent special levies, by-laws (pets, short-term letting, hard-floor restrictions), any current legal disputes. If any of these flags red, drop the property, strata-titled buyer's-remorse is the highest-incidence regret category in NSW + VIC purchaser surveys.