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Topic
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Following the last AGM,(this month) the associated Strata Committee meeting minutes, noted the election of Committee office holders.
The Minutes recorded:
Chairperson: (named as the Strata manager): (One owner who nominated for the C’tee & was elected, via an on-line video link A.G. Meeting, would have stayed on line for the C’tee Mtg).
“Quorum: 1 of 3 Strata Committee members were present, a quorum was formed”.
First question is: I do not think that 1 of 3 persons present is likely to be a quorum. I think it requires a minimum of 2. Am I correct??
Next – the election of officers for the year ahead:
Call for election of office holders, Chairperson, Secretary & Treasurer, followed by the election of the Chairperson and Secretary, (both individuals) but with the following note in relation to Treasurer: “Treasurer – Nil – As per Agency agreement Strata Manager is delegated”
Second question is: Is this able to be done? I understood that all 3 positions need to be filled by committee members, and the “Delegation” the Strata Manager, only covered certain specific matters per the Act.
There have been a number of irregularities noted in the past, but as there is almost zero interest by other Lot owners in strata matters, it is considered raising the matters will be ignored, if they are indeed irregular.
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Replies
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One member out of three is not a quorum for a committee meeting (but could be for an AGM).
It is not unusual for a strata manager to be delegated the powers of any or all of the office-bearer roles, although those roles can be resumed by committee members at any time by a simple majority vote in committee.
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.
There certainly wasn’t a quorum, so essentially there was no meeting. Note that you can’t use proxies for a Committee meeting. The strata manager may claim they held proxies but that doesn’t help.
Any purported resolution at the purported Committee meeting is not valid, so any “election” of office bearers is not valid. That is because there was no quorum.
As Jimmy says, it’s not unusual for office bearer roles to be delegated to the Strata Manager. That might be in the agreement and/or agreed by the owners or the Committee.
Jt, how can one member can form a quorum at an AGM?
You call the meeting by the normal means.
If the meeting is inquorate (not enough in attendance or there by virtue of proxies) the chair waits for half an hour and declares the meeting quorate under various provisions in Schedule 1 of the Act.
Eg, Section 12 (4): Chairperson may be only person present
A meeting is, subject to the provisions of this Schedule relating to the quorum, validly held even though the only person present at the meeting is the chairperson of the owners corporation.
Section 17 (4): Procedure if no quorum
If no quorum is present within the next half-hour after the relevant motion or business arises for consideration at the meeting, the chairperson must—
(a) adjourn the meeting for at least 7 days, or
(b) declare that the persons present either personally or by duly appointed proxy and who are entitled to vote on the motion or election constitute a quorum for considering that motion or business and any subsequent motion or business at the meeting.
In short, the chair waits half an hour then declares the meeting quorate. Votes on the sole non-procedural item on the agenda – allowing electronic voting – and moves on.
I think it’s really important for any scheme that goes down this path to make it a clean vote, only on invoking Section 28 of Schedule 1 of the Act, allowing electronic participation and voting under Section 14 and Section 15 of the Regulations.Obviously, the potential for one-person general meetings to be biased and undemocratic is huge, and would probably successfully be challenged at NCAT under any other circumstances.But pushing through a procedural vote to make it easier for people to participate and vote under the current restrictions would be unlikely to be overturned provided all the correct processes had been followed, including explaining to owners what as happening and why.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.
Got it, thanks for that.
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