In New South Wales and Victoria, members of a newly-elected strata committee can decide among themselves on the office bearers at their first meeting. In Queensland, the owners corporation votes on the roles of the officer bearers at the annual general meeting.
One person may fill more than one main role on a strata committee. If they choose to do this, they must carry out the responsibilities of each role. An individual committee member cannot make decisions on behalf of the committee, but the office-bearers can perform specific tasks that fall within their roles.
In addition to administrative duties, the strata committee should set specific, measurable and attainable goals on how they plan to achieve the lot owners’ desired outcomes and then work together towards making it happen.
The chairperson’s main role in a strata committee is to preside over meetings, and ensure they are conducted smoothly, fairly and in accordance with relevant legislation.
The chairperson must chair all general meetings and strata committee meetings they attend and make determinations as to quorums and procedural matters at meetings. If the chairperson is not at a meeting, another person can be nominated to chair that meeting.
A good strata committee chairperson will be:
The secretary is essentially the administrative officer for the owners corporation. It is their role to attend to the administrative requirements of an owners corporation. The secretary’s duties include calling general or committee meetings, sending out notices for meetings, preparing and distributing meeting minutes, maintaining the meeting attendance list and receiving voting papers. The secretary must also maintain the strata roll, answer owners corporation communications and enable the inspection of documents as requested by owners or authorised bodies.
A good strata committee secretary will be:
The treasurer’s main role on a strata committee is like that of a corporation’s chief financial officer. Their duties include notifying owners to levy contributions, keeping accounting records and preparing the financial statements, managing money paid to the owners corporation and preparing the information required for any strata certificate.
A good strata committee treasurer will be:
Many functions of the main roles of a strata committee described above can be delegated to an appointed strata manager. When this happens, the office bearers have a much easier time and can focus on managing the strata property instead of worrying about accounting, compliance and legislative matters.
The appointment of a strata manager does not affect the legal responsibilities of an owners corporation as they are still responsible for the actions of a paid or volunteer strata manager. Therefore, it is important for the office bearer’s to liaise closely with the strata manager and follow up or instigate tasks that need to be fulfilled.
Q: Is a strata committee office bearer (chairman) still eligible to remain a member of the committee after their property is sold?
A: The topic can be a little tricky, but the chairperson of your strata committee (who is selling their property) can remain in their role if they were nominated by another owner who has not yet sold their property.
Having set up the very first strata scheme in Australia back in 1948, we’ve come a long way in our knowledge and experience across a variety of property types. Whether you are new to strata management or an active committee member, we have developed an extensive library of resources to assist you. Click here to download our FREE Community Living guide on committee management. For a consultation to review your current by-laws with the Kemps Petersons Legal team, click here. To find out more about the services we offer, click here for a free strata assessment.
PICA Group acknowledges the traditional owners as the custodians of Australia, recognising their connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to First Nations Peoples and Elders, past and present.