Queensland strata managers are handling millions of dollars without even a background check in what has been dubbed an "entirely unregulated" industry by its former commissioner.

Strata managers are responsible for a building's finances, levies and insurance, as well as making sure the body corporate complies with legislation.

But unlike other jurisdictions, Queensland has no minimum training, trust accounting or licensing requirements.

"It means tomorrow, you or I can go out there and say, 'I am a strata manager, now I would like your work, I would also like to be a signatory of your bank account,'" Chris Irons, who was the state's body corporate commissioner for five years, said.

Queensland has more than 52,000 body corporates.

A Four Corners investigation into the strata industry received thousands of submissions, many about conflicts of interest, kickbacks, and hidden fees.

Queensland has a Body Corporate and Community Management Act and a body corporate commissioner to enforce it.

In the last financial year, the commissioner's office received nearly 1,500 dispute applications, and 23,000 requests for information.

But Mr Irons said it is understaffed and has no power to carry out inspections.

"There are no government inspectors, there are no strata cops on the beat in Queensland, and I think that is a real problem," he said.

"It is not like other government agencies where they send out an inspector and do a spot check, issue a fine, make sure compliance is happening — none of that happens in Queensland."

Code of conduct 'has no teeth'

The Queensland Office of Fair Trading denies strata managers are unregulated.

You don't need an accreditation or license to become a strata manager, but you are covered by strata legislation, which includes conflict of interest requirements and "offence provisions", a spokesman said.

It also has a mandatory code of conduct.

But there are no penalties or disciplinary consequences if you breach it, Mr Irons said.

'Did I make a mistake buying into this resort?'

High-rise resident Chris Griffith said problems with his body corporate had "taken the shine" off his Gold Coast home.

In 2022, the body corporate committee for Mr Griffith's building was found to have breached strata regulations after investing $1.4 million in a company set up by the chair, which then bought four apartments in the resort.

It's illegal for body corporates to carry out business, nor can they own lots in their own complex.

The state's administrative tribunal found the body corporate had created the company with the intention of circumventing the act and ordered that it divest its shares.

That decision is now being appealed.

"Even if you win the adjudication, it doesn't mean you have won the day at all," Mr Griffith said.

Gold Coast resident Michael Dopking spent years locked in a dispute with a strata manager of his resort.

The complex has changed strata manager three times inside of a year, after two companies opted to quit their contracts.

Mr Dopking still feels it's unresolved.

Mr Griffith said governments need to make a "quantum leap" in how they regulate strata.

"If we don't have much stricter law around the operation of body corporates, we are going to have story after story of greed and misuse of funds and the siphoning of funds."

Calls for legislation 'to support better behaviour'

Strata Community Association of Queensland (SCAQ) manager Laura Bos said the organisation supports mandatory education for managers.

"SCAQ has long been a strong and vocal advocate for best practice in the industry," she said.

"We are on the record as advocating for updating legislation to support better behaviour."

Mr Irons said the Queensland government needs to bring in stricter regulations like New South Wales, where the Fair Trading watchdog is seeking powers to enter apartment buildings without a warrant if it has reasonable grounds to believe an owners' corporation is not fixing common property.

"They're [the government] very happy to take money from property transactions," he said.

"Devoting even a tiny percentage of some of that to go back into the strata sector, for education, for information, for regulation, for strata cops on the beat, it's a no brainer."

In a statement, a spokesperson for Attorney-General Deb Frecklington said she was seeking briefings on strata regulation and would work to act in "the best interests of Queenslanders".

"The attorney-general is committed to working with the Community Titles Legislation Working Group to address the range of issues impacting the community titles sector," they said.