So who is entitled to vote other than owners?
Non-owners can vote if they have valid proxies from owners. But owners and their proxies can’t vote if they are not financial when the meeting is called and haven’t paid their levies before the meeting. This is what the Act says:
(1) Persons who have right to vote Each owner, and each person entitled to a priority vote, has voting rights that may be exercised at a general meeting of the owners corporation, but only if the owner or person is shown on the strata roll and, in the case of a corporation, the company nominee is shown on the strata roll.
(2) Exercise of voting rights by joint first mortgagees or joint covenant chargees Voting rights may be exercised at the meeting by joint first mortgagees or joint covenant chargees only by proxy (who may be one of them) duly appointed by all of them jointly.
(3) Exercise of voting rights by owner, first mortgagee or covenant chargee The voting rights of an owner or first mortgagee or covenant chargee of a lot (other than a co-owner, mortgagee or covenant chargee) may be exercised—
(a) unless the owner, mortgagee or covenant chargee is a corporation—in person or by proxy, or
(b) if the owner, mortgagee or covenant chargee is a corporation—by the company nominee in person, or by proxy appointed by the corporation.
(4) Exercise of voting rights by co-owners to be by proxy The voting rights of co-owners of a lot may not be exercised by them individually but may be exercised—
(a) by a proxy (who may be one of them), or
(b) as provided by subclause (5).
(5) Other circumstances in which co-owners may exercise voting rights If, on a vote at a general meeting, the rights of co-owners of a lot are not exercised by a proxy as referred to in subclause (4), one of them may act as such a proxy—
(a) if the other co-owners are absent or those who are present give their consent, or
(b) if paragraph (a) does not apply—if he or she is the owner first named on the strata roll as one of the co-owners.
(6) Exercise of voting rights by owners of successive estates in lot If there are owners of successive estates in a lot, only the owner of the first estate may vote at a general meeting.
(7) Exercise of voting rights where owner holds lot as trustee If the owner of a lot holds it as trustee, a person beneficially entitled may not vote at a general meeting.
(8) Voting rights cannot be exercised if contributions not paid A vote at a general meeting (other than a vote on a motion requiring a unanimous resolution) by an owner of a lot or a person with a priority vote in respect of the lot does not count if the owner of the lot was an unfinancial owner at the date notice of the meeting was given and did not pay the amounts owing before the meeting.
(9) Effect of failure to give strata interest notice This clause does not confer a right to vote on a person deprived of the right by failing to comply with the requirement to give a strata interest notice.
When does the strata committee not become an SC? At the beginning or end of an Annual General Meeting? That is, can they still act as committee members when voting on motions takes place?
Owners can vote with their committee or against it as they please. There is no law that says all the members of a committee have to vote en masse or prevents them from doing so. Committee members are only acting as committee members in a committee meeting. Unless theyare office-bearers they have no function or privileges beyond being ordinary owners.