Michael Teys is the founder of The Strata Professionals Group and the architect of the professional standard every office in the network operates to.
He brings more than 40 years in strata — including over 30 years as a specialist strata lawyer — a decade of strata business ownership, and an active programme of academic research into multi-owned property governance.
Michael practised as a specialist strata lawyer from 1994, advising committees, developers, and owners across the full spectrum of strata disputes, compliance, and governance, and served as a Fellow of the Australian College of Strata Law. He went on to own and run strata management companies across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia, managing a combined portfolio of tens of thousands of apartments. Running those businesses gave him direct exposure to the operational pressures strata managers face — and revealed the structural weaknesses that became the catalyst for founding the network.
He holds a Master of Philosophy (Built Environment) from UNSW, where his thesis examined how mixed-use strata developments create anti-commons risks that impede urban renewal, completed under an Australian Research Council scholarship. He has been accepted at the University of Oxford to undertake a Doctorate of Philosophy in Law. He has held research positions at the City Futures Research Centre (UNSW) and Deakin University, and presents regularly at international forums including Oxford, the House of Commons, and the International Research Forum on Multi-Owned Properties in Spain, Canada and Australia.
Michael writes The Strata Professional, a weekly newsletter on strata law, committee governance, and why true professionalism matters in this industry. You can learn more about him at michaelteys.com.
This combination of legal practice, business ownership, and research is the foundation of the franchise standard. Every element of how the network operates — from the no-commission pricing structure to the Balanced Strata Method™ — is grounded in something tested rather than assumed.
Three small leaks. One consultant in charge of diagnosis, scope, tender, and project management. A bill for $2.5 million. There is a structural reason this keeps happening, and it has nothing to do with the severity of the problem.
Free help for owners. Abuse in return. The research says the hostility is structural - and fixable.
Lock-in contracts punish clients for leaving. We believe the fiduciary relationship demands the freedom to walk away.
Why strata committee members are overpaying for remediation work, and the conflict of interest built into the consultant process that's driving up costs.
$400,000 in legal fees. A leaking shower. Mismatched tiles. The most pathetic strata case ever litigated.
Strata committee members in NSW: before you approve a special levy for waterproofing or building remediation, read this. Michael Teys explains why remediation quotes are consistently inflated and what your committee can do about it. Free keynote, Sydney, 4 June 2026.
Strata owners are being sold remediation they don’t need. History shows exactly how this happens.
Strata volunteers manage buildings worth hundreds of billions of dollars, yet the Federal Government's National Volunteer Action Program doesn't mention them once. That's about to change.
Surgeons have a method. Accountants have a method. Engineers have a method. Strata managers have… an inbox and a prayer. After fifty years, it’s time to ask why no one has built a proper operational method for running a strata scheme. This week’s newsletter tackles the question.
Unfair lock-in management contracts have been the strata industry’s lifeline for decades. Dr Nicole Johnston’s research confirms what owners have long suspected: the standard agreement is designed to protect the manager, not the client. Read why this must change in this week’s edition of The Strata Professional newsletter.
