NSW strata legislation update-Committee meetings

Committee meetings

Significant decisions about the management of your property are made by committee members. To assist in coordinating the decision-making process, there are set requirements. These requirements include things such as disclosure of conflicts of interest and the need for committee members to be up-to-date with levies at each meeting (this is known as being ‘financial’).

The legislation that governs committee meetings is the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015. Below we have listed some of the key requirements that should be met by your committee and committee meetings.

 

Key things to note

  • The elected group of owners that constitute the committee are known as the ‘strata committee’ and not the ‘executive committee’.
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  • Strata committees for large properties (greater than 100 lots, excluding utility lots such as car or storage spaces) must have a minimum of three committee members.
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  • A strata manager, building manager, leasing agent or a person with an undisclosed connection with the original owner (developer), will not be eligible for election to the strata committee unless they are an owner in the strata property.
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  • In circumstances where at least 50 per cent of the lots have notified tenants on the strata roll, a property must hold a separate meeting before the annual general meeting to elect a tenant representative.
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  • The tenant representative member of the strata committee can attend strata committee meetings, however, they are not entitled to vote.
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  • Committee members, all owners, and a tenant representative (if elected) must receive a copy of the ‘notice’ of strata committee meetings at least three days (instead of 72 hours) prior to the meeting. You, therefore, may need to consider an allowance for postal service delivery. Detailed attachments can be excluded when sending to tenant representatives.
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  • Each strata committee member needs to disclose any direct or indirect conflict of interest on a matter being considered by the committee, and this should be recorded in the meeting minutes.
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  • Committee members must have paid all of their levies and any associated costs owing in order to vote at meetings.
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  • The quorum for committee meetings will be affected if a committee member is unfinancial at the date of the meeting.
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  • Minutes of committee meetings will be issued to all owners in schemes of 100 lots or less. They are issued to large property owners only if a request is made within seven days of the meeting.
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  • The strata committee may approve other means of voting at their meetings, including voting via email, teleconference or videoconference from remote locations.