That’s s.58(7) of the 1973 Act you need to check, not the current Act.
That’s where the Mitchell Library comes in, the 1973 Strata Titles Act is not on the internet.
However, as your inspection report of 1994 mentions the problem, it would be reasonable to conclude that the 2-year registration deadline did apply even in those days.
I don’t think the concept of Special By-Laws arose before the 1996 changes.
Before then you simply repealed, amended or added By-Laws.
There was a previous discussion of Special By-Laws here:
http://www.flatchat.com.au/forum/by-laws-and-outlaws/what-is-a-special-by-law/
and my head still hurts!
I think the conclusion was that, since 1996, Schedule 1 or Model By-Laws would be called “By-Laws” and amended or added By-Laws specific to your Plan would be called “Special By-Laws”.
Of course this gave rise to the the ridiculous situation where you would repeal By-Law X and replace it by Special By-Law X.
And Plans who had registered their By-Laws before 1996, well, they were all just called By-Laws, not Special By-Laws, even though they were “special”.
Another fine mess you’ve got us into Ollie.
The “official print-out of the By-Law, made in 1975” that you refer to should be an LPI dealing form titled “Notification of Change of By-Laws” and the words “resolution duly passed” are pre-printed on it. However, immediately before that there is a dotted space where you are supposed to insert the type of resolution, ordinary, special or unanimous. One wonders why this wasn’t also pre-printed on that standard form if the 1973 Act required a certain type of resolution? I also have a faded recollection that the requirement in those days was “unanimous”.
Anyway, I digress.
You should probably inspect the minutes of the GM which passed the By-Law, to see whether the beneficiaries were required to pay for their exclusive use right. That would only be in the minutes, not on the LPI dealing. But your SM has probably archived them and will want you to pay for retrieval.