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Preparing for a meeting
The Owners Corporation Act 2006 sets out who can convene an owners corporation (formerly body corporate) meeting, and the contents of the notice and agenda.
Matters for discussion at a general meeting may be contentious and, without preparation, you risk holding a long meeting that results in no decisions.
Before the meeting, the:
- manager, lot owners and the committee should identify topics for discussion
- committee, secretary or manager must prepare:
- minutes of the previous meeting must be made available to all members of the owners corporation
- manager or secretary will need to consider how voting will be recorded at the meeting.
Use our Action sheet: preparing for an owners corporation general meeting (Word, 58KB).
Conducting a meeting
Your owners corporation secretary organises the meeting and manages the relevant paperwork. The chairperson conducts the meeting to enable decisions.
For more information about these critical roles, view Secretary - owners corporation and Chairperson - owners corporation.
The agenda is a road map for the meeting, which should follow a standard process.
Minutes of a meeting
The owners corporation must keep minutes of all its meetings and make them available to all of the owners corporation members before the following meeting. The minutes, which are usually taken by the secretary, must record these matters, as a minimum:
- date
- time
- location
- names of lot owners present
- names of lot owners who have provided proxies
- names of proxies present
- text of all resolutions
- outcomes of any voting on resolutions.
If an owners corporation member believes the minutes have been recorded incorrectly for these particular matters, they can use the dispute resolution procedure under the Owners Corporations Act 2006.
For other matters that a member believes have not been recorded correctly, the resident should consult the owners corporation's rules. For more information, view our Complaint handling in your owners corporation.
Annual general meeting
Your owners corporation must hold a meeting of all lot owners (called the annual general meeting) if it receives or pays out money during the financial year.
For more information about what is required for an annual general meeting, view our Owners corporation annual general meeting.
Special general meetings
Special general meetings also require 14 days notice. The notice must include:
- the date, time and place of the meeting
- the agenda and the text of any special or unanimous resolution, and
- a statement that the lot owner has a right to appoint a proxy.
What is a quorum?
A 'quorum' is the minimum number of members needed to transact business at a meeting. The quorum for an annual general meeting is at least 50 per cent of the total votes or if 50 per cent of total votes are not available then 50 per cent of lot entitlements.
The annual general meeting can still go ahead without a quorum but it can only make 'interim decisions'.
The owners corporation can act on interim decisions after 29 days only if it has not received either a:
- petition of owners representing 25 per cent of the total lot entitlements to call another meeting
- notice of special general meeting.
Download a copy of the Owners corporation petition (Word, 50KB).
Voting
Your owners corporation will make its decisions by voting and ballots. Basic requirements for voting and ballots by an owners corporation and its committee are set out in the Owners Corporation Act 2006.
For information about holding a vote or ballot, view our Voting and ballot guidelines for owners corporations.
Delegation of powers
Delegations enable a chairperson, secretary, manager or committee to make decisions on behalf of the owners corporation and carry out day to day tasks without calling a general meeting.
An owners corporation should consider delegations of its powers at each annual general meeting. Record any changes to the delegated powers in the minutes and set the revised powers out in an Instrument of delegation - owners corporations (Word, 64KB).
Your owners corporation can set limits on delegated powers; for example, limiting the amount of money that a delegate can spend.
Amendments to the law, effective from 24 August 2011, enable owners corporations to choose what powers a committee can exercise. If the owners corporation does not make a choice, the committee will automatically get powers to perform its functions.
Owners corporations will not be able to delegate:
- the power of delegation
- any power that requires a unanimous or special resolution
- any power that must be exercised at a general meeting.
Delegations will be able to be made by instrument or resolution, but any delegation by resolution must be recorded in the minutes of the general meeting to be effective.
Using powers of attorney
A person acting under a power of attorney for a lot owner may vote on their behalf at a general meeting or on a ballot.
A power of attorney can only act for more than one lot if they are a member of the lot owner's family.
It is illegal for someone to require you to give a power of attorney.