Committee voting

Committee members make decisions by voting at committee meetings or outside committee meetings for schemes registered under the:

• Standard Module
• Accommodation Module
• Commercial Module.

Schemes registered under the Specified Two-lot Schemes Module do not have committees. Find out how these rules differ for the Small Schemes Module.

Motions

If an owner wants the body corporate to make a decision, they can submit a motion to be considered by the committee.

A copy of the motion can be given to the secretary:

• personally
• by post
• by electronic communication.

Decisions the committee cannot make

The committee cannot make a decision about a motion if:

• it is a restricted issue for the committee
• it conflicts with
  • the Act or regulations
  • by-laws
  • a motion already voted on at the meeting
• it is unlawful or unenforceable.

If the committee cannot make a decision about what you are wanting, they must let you know and you may have to ask for your motion to be considered at a general meeting.

You can wait until the next annual general meeting or you may ask for an extraordinary general meeting to be called.

Learn more about asking for an extraordinary general meeting.

Timeframes for committee decisions

If the committee can make a decision on a motion, they need to decide within 6 weeks after the day the motion was submitted (i.e. the ‘decision period’)—unless the committee needs more time.

If more time is needed to consider the motion, the committee must give the owner who submitted the motion written notice within the decision period.

The notice will need to state:

• that the committee needs more time to decide
• why the committee needs more time
• a reasonable deadline for the committee to decide about the motion (i.e. an ‘extended decision period’)—no more than 6 weeks after the decision period.

The committee does not have to decide about a motion if the lot owner has, within the last 12 months, submitted:

• a motion about the same issue
• 6 or more motions.

The committee must advise the lot owner if this is why they are not resolving the motion.

The motion will be considered ‘not passed’ if the committee does not decide within the decision period or extended decision period.

Making a decision at a committee meeting

Each voting member of the committee has 1 vote on any matter decided by the committee. Even if an executive member holds more than 1 position on the committee, they still have only 1 vote.

For example, if a person is both a secretary and a treasurer they still only have 1 vote on the committee.

To vote, a voting member of the committee must be present at the meeting, or represented by a proxy.

Passing the motion

A motion is passed at a committee meeting if a majority of voting members present and entitled to vote are voting in favour of the motion. If there is a tied vote, the motion is lost.

A committee member is considered present if they attend the meeting personally, by proxy or by electronic means (if authorised by the committee).

For example, if there are 7 voting members present, a majority is 4 members. If there are 6 voting members present, 4 votes will still be needed to pass a motion.

Ineligibility to vote

A committee member is not able to vote at a committee meeting or vote outside a committee meeting if, at the time of the vote:

• they owe a body corporate debt
• the entity that nominated them owes a body corporate debt

or

• they have a conflict of interest.

A proxy cannot be used for a committee member who owes a body corporate debt or has a conflict of interest.

Conflict of interest

If a committee member or their proxy has a direct or indirect interest in a matter to be decided by the committee that could affect the way they do their duties, they must tell the committee and must not vote on the issue.

Proxies

A voting member of the committee can appoint another voting member of the committee as their proxy. The proxy can then vote on behalf of the committee member at a specific committee meeting.

To appoint a proxy, the voting member must complete the proxy form and give it to the secretary before the start of the committee meeting (or at an earlier time if one is set by the body corporate).

Restrictions

There are restrictions on the use of proxies:

• A voting member of the committee can only hold 1 proxy.
• The secretary or treasurer can only appoint a proxy with the committee’s approval.
• A body corporate manager or a caretaking service contractor cannot hold a proxy for a voting member of the committee (because they are non-voting members).
• A proxy lasts for 1 committee meeting and ends after the meeting.

A body corporate can pass a special resolution to limit or ban committee proxies.

Voting outside a committee meeting

The committee can make decisions without holding a committee meeting.

To vote outside a committee meeting, the secretary (or another member of the committee authorised by the majority of voting members) must give, at the same time:

• written notice of the motion to all committee members
• notice of the motion to all lot owners.

Committee members need to return their written votes to the secretary within 21 days of the notice being given.

Committee members can contact one another before or during the vote.

There are different requirements for notice and returning votes in an emergency.

Passing the motion

The motion is decided if:

• a majority of the voting members of the committee entitled to vote on the motion (and not just a majority of those who return a vote) agree to the motion
• half or more than half of all the voting members of the committee entitled to vote on the motion do not agree to the motion.

If the committee members do not decide within 21 days of receiving notice, the motion will be considered ‘not passed’.

A record of the motion that was voted on must be given to all committee members and all owners within 21 days after it has been decided.

The decision about the motion must also be confirmed at the next committee meeting.

Emergency vote

In an emergency, notice of the motion only needs to be given to those committee members that it is practical to contact.

Votes can be made verbally or by another appropriate form of communication. Advice of the motion can be given to owners when it is reasonably practical to do so.

Any motion voted on outside a committee meeting must be confirmed at the next committee meeting.

When the committee can act on its decision

A committee can act on the passed resolution only if:

• no notice of opposition is given (Standard Module only)
• there is an emergency (e.g. a burst water pipe on the common property) and the spending is within the relevant limit for committee spending or an adjudicator has authorised the committee to do so
• the resolution has been previously approved by ordinary resolution at a general meeting
• the resolution is of a routine, administrative nature and the cost is not more than the greater of $200 or $5 multiplied by the number of lots in the scheme.

Benefits from a caretaking service contractor and service contractor

Committee members cannot receive a direct or indirect benefit from a caretaking service contractor or service contractor unless:

• authorised by the body corporate by a motion passed by ordinary resolution
• the benefit is the supply of or payment for
  • a letting agent business service conducted by the contractor
  • a service the body corporate has engaged the contractor to provide
  • a service the owner of a lot has engaged the contractor to provide at market price.

This requirement is to prevent committee members giving preferential consideration to a contractor.

Small Schemes Module

For schemes registered under the Small Schemes Module a committee is made up of a secretary and a treasurer. If both positions are held by 1 person, decisions are made by that person. If there are 2 people (in the secretary and treasurer positions) they must agree on any decisions.