zerotwoalpha – Here is an extract from page 31 of
https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/pdfs/About_us/Publications/ft045.pdf
To be entitled to vote, lot owners (or a nominee in the case of a company-owned lot) must first give a notice of a right to vote to the secretary of the owners corporation. The notice must be shown on the strata roll. The owners corporation can decide how meetings are to be held and the method of voting. This includes enabling voting and/or meeting participation through technology such as email, teleconference, video conference calls and the use of voting websites. Pre-meeting electronic voting is another option that owners corporations can choose to allow (through a general resolution vote). Electronic voting cannot be used for elections.
And
If agreed to by the owners corporation, meetings can be attended remotely by phone or another means. (My emphasis added)
Tenants rights are located on page 32.
To avoid the default position of the proxy vote, which may not suit every scheme, I suggest that your friend asks the owner of his Lot to raise a Motion to be included at your General Meeting to allow pre-meeting electronic voting for those owners who cannot be present at the meeting (aka an absentee vote). That way every owner, whether they are present or absent, gets an opportunity to submit their own vote.
However, as your friend’s EGM has already been called any such Motion will not be able to be included on the Agenda at this meeting, but it may be included on the Agenda of the next meeting.
Proxy votes are the only alternative in your friend’s current situation if they are unable to attend the meeting in person.