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For owners who have not submitted a proxy form for the AGM meeting, is it legal to obtain consent via txt message (e.g. ask them to write “I nominate xxx to be my proxy for the AGM on xxxx”)?
Thank you.
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Nope. It has to be on the official form which must be submitted to the secretary 24 hours before the meeting.
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.
You can give a valid signed proxy form to the Secretary at the meeting (unless it is the first meeting of the scheme). So if you are present then that is an option.
The secretary can state up till what time before a meeting a proxy can be submitted. In larger schemes there is a lot a paperwork and checking to check who can vote.
Smaller schemes are more flexible, but can also impose such a requirement.
In larger schemes there is a lot a paperwork and checking to check who can vote.
Aaaaah, there you go. JimmyT gets it wrong again. I was just going by the rules in my apartment block which is, of course, perfect.
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.
I have just noticed that this question has been posted in the “living in Victoria” section. With that in mind, this is what the Owners Corporations Act, Section 89C, says about Proxies:
(3) An authorisation under subsection (1) must—
(a) be in the prescribed form; and
(b) authorise an individual; and
(c) be delivered to the secretary of the owners corporation.
(4) An authorisation may set out how a proxy is to vote on particular matters and is effective from the beginning of the first meeting of the owners corporation held after the date that the authorisation is delivered to the secretary of the owners corporation.
Does anyone want to take a punt on what the phrase “first meeting… held after the date that the authorisation is delivered” means?
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.
Sounds like you can’t submit your proxy on the day of the meeting. If you could it would say “first meeting … held on or after the date that the authorisation is delivered.”
It sounds petty not to allow an authorisation to be delivered at the start of a meeting, but delivering it the day before possibly gives the Secretary time to check that the proxies are valid and to address any issues. I’ve had to deal with on-the-spot proxies in a non-strata AGM where 200 people turned up and about 50 were on-the-spot proxies. It was chaos.
I’m looking back at Scotlandx’s post (79414) – usually very reliable source of information, so I’m sitting on the fence on this one. The real issue may be that if the chair or secretary says you’re too late, right or wrong, your vote won’t be counted. What do you do then? Unless those votes would have been pivotal in the result, no Tribunal in any state is going to rescind the result. It is very tricky toothpaste to get back in the tube. If they are likely to make a difference, do whatever you can to make sure they will be counted – including putting them in well in advance.
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.
Yes I take your point, there could be confusion. Ideally the notice of meeting should specify the rules that apply to proxies – for a smaller scheme I don’t see what issue there may be with someone providing a proxy at the meeting – but as I say it should be clear from the outset. Our scheme of 9 has always accepted proxies at the meeting.
Have a look at the NSW Fair Trading template proxy form.
Note 1 to the template says:
- This form is ineffective unless it contains the date on which it was made and it is given to the secretary of the owners corporation at least 24 hours before the first meeting in relation to which it is to operate (in the case of a large strata scheme) or at or before the first meeting in relation to which it is to operate (in any other case).
Is there a definition of the size of a “large strata scheme”?
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