What can owners do when levy notices from their strata manager contain no detail?

Strata levies should reflect the costs associated with the maintenance and management of the common property. Properties differ significantly, so it is difficult to advise what is causing the levies or whether they are fair without seeing the financial report.

Accordingly, I recommend you make a records request to your owners corporation manager. As a member of the owners corporation, It is your right to view these records. Please see the below from Section 146 of the Owners Corporation Act 2006:

Section 146 - Availability of records

1. The owners corporation, on request by a lot owner, a mortgagee of a lot, a purchaser of a lot or the representative of a lot owner or mortgagee or purchaser of a lot, must make the records of the owners corporation required to be kept under this Division available to that person for inspection at any reasonable time, free of charge.
2. The owners corporation must at the request of a person entitled to inspect the records and on payment of a reasonable fee provide a copy of any record of the owners corporation.
3. A fee determined by the owners corporation for the purposes of this section must not exceed the prescribed maximum fee.

I recommend you request the below from your owners corporation manager:

1. A copy of the financial report and budget.
2. A copy of the minutes of any committee meeting.
3. A copy of any resolutions related to levies.

The above documents form records of the owners corporation that must be made available for inspection on request. Finally, I note it is best practice for your manager to provide a cover letter with any special levy explaining the charges. We suggest you raise this with the management company and ask them to provide explanations in future.