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Hi guys,
We will be having our AGM/SCM soon and wanted to get clarification on a person who is not an owner, proxy holder or resident of the building who insists on attending our Strata Committee meeting on the pretext that she is there to assist one of the owners (general Committee Member) who is not confident in her knowledge of the Strata Rules.
I have recently taken over as the Chair/Secretary of our self managed strata scheme (6 lots) and have found this person to be counter productive and divisive at our AGM and EGM meetings.
This person has the owner’s Proxy for “one meeting only” each time we hold an EGM/AGM meeting.
Sch 2, Clause 13 says that a “non member owner may attend the meeting but is not entitled to address the meeting unless authorised to do so by resolution of the Strata Committee”.
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but my interpretation of this clause is that ONLY non member owners may attend the SCM?
The owners don’t want her present in the room when we elect/appoint our Officers for the forthcoming year.
Am I able to ask this person to leave the meeting room when we hold our SCM?
Thank you.
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Replies
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The Act only refers to non-member owners being able to attend and rather than you having to prove that they aren’t allowed, you can exclude them and leave it to them to prove that they are allowed (see below).
Even owners aren’t allowed to speak at committee meetings unless permitted by a majority vote of the committee.
Furthermore, Schedule 2 of the Act only allows for members of the committee to be represented by a non-member, provided they are approved by the committee. It doesn’t allow for proxies of non-member owners.
General meetings are different. Non-owners can attend as proxies. The process of electing the committee is part of the AGM but the election of office-bearers is a separate committee meeting, usually held AFTER the conclusion of the AGM.
I think it’s reasonable to allow non-owners to represent owners at general meetings, but not to allow them at committee meetings, especially if they are disruptive.
Keep them out of the committee room and let them pursue you to NCAT if they feel they have a case.
13 Non-member owner may attend
An owner or, if the owner of a lot is a corporation, any company nominee of that corporation is entitled to attend a meeting but is not entitled to address the meeting unless authorised to do so by resolution of the strata committee.If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.