Committee meetings and their decisions are centred around transparency and accountability which is why there are legislative requirements to be adhered to.
Keep in mind that committees are a group of owners, or their representatives, who volunteer their time and are entrusted with managing the operation and decisions of a scheme.
In this article, we will break down the different types of committee meetings and the processes that need to be followed.
This information does not apply to Two-Lot Scheme Modules or Small Scheme Modules. More information on these modules is on our website.
Informal committee meetings
Our office is often asked if committees can hold informal meetings.
While the law doesn’t specifically allow for informal committee meetings, there’s nothing preventing committee members from informally discussing body corporate issues.
However, during any informal discussions no decisions can be made, because several important legislated steps for calling a formal committee meeting must be adhered to.
The following steps must be taken to ensure the committee is transparent about decisions.
Types of meetings
For a committee to make decisions, a formal process must be followed.
Committee decisions can be made:
- physically at a formal meeting or
- by a vote outside of committee meeting (commonly referred to as VOCM or Flying Minute).
Committee meetings
Several rules must be followed to convene a ‘properly called’ meeting.
Committee meetings can be called by:
- the secretary,
- chairperson, or
- any committee member with the agreement of enough members to make a quorum.
The secretary or, in their absence, the chairperson, must call a committee meeting if enough members (to form a quorum) make a written request. The meeting must be called within 21 days of receiving the written request.
Owners must be informed of an upcoming meeting because this will allow owners to make plans to attend and make them aware decisions will be made.
The notice and the agenda of the meeting must be sent to all owners and committee members at least seven days before the meeting.
As little as two days’ notice can be given, providing the committee had previously voted to shorten the notice period, or enough members agreed in writing before the meeting was called.
The committee is allowed to choose where the meeting is held, however, objections can be raised if it is more than 15 kilometres from the scheme’s land.
It is important that as many members as possible can attend, so conducting a meeting near the scheme’s land would optimise attendance.
A quorum is at least half of the voting members, and it is needed for a meeting to proceed.
If lot owners or their representatives want to attend a committee meeting, they need to give at least 24 hours written notice to the secretary and can only watch the meeting and only speak if invited.
The committee can ask a lot owner to leave a meeting for certain items on the agenda.
VOCM / Flying Minute
Committee members are busy people and many investors/owners live remotely from the scheme, which can make it difficult for them to attend a physical meeting.
Therefore, voting outside a committee meeting is a popular decision-making method. This process is more efficient because decisions are made in writing and do not require a physical presence.
To ensure owners know what is occurring and the motions being considered, a copy of the notice must be simultaneously circulated to lot owners and committee members.
Contrary to a common misconception, there is no provision within the legislation that allows a body corporate to pass the costs of a VOCM onto an owner or occupier, even if the motion for consideration may solely benefit that person.
In the matter of Lenvilla [2018] QBCCMCmr 146, where a lot owner was charged a fee for a pet application to be considered by the committee, the adjudicator upheld that the lot owner should not be liable for this charge.
The body corporate manager at the time stated, “the $65 fee has been charged to the application as it is not a Body Corporate expense but an individual owner expense”.
The adjudicator determined that the applicant was asking for a decision of the committee as per a by-law, and was not wishing to purchase a service or product from the body corporate manager.
In emergencies, verbal or other appropriate communication methods can be used for notice and voting. The decided motion must be shared with all committee members and lot owners as soon as practicable.
A record of the outcomes of the VOCM, including any emergency votes, must be confirmed at the next physical committee meeting and included in the minutes.
Decision making
When an owner wants the committee to make a decision, they must submit a motion for consideration.
The legislation requires that the committee need to consider a motion within six weeks of receiving it.
If the committee needs more time, it must inform the owner but cannot take longer than another six weeks to decide. If the owner does not receive a response and the decision period has lapsed, the motion is deemed to have not been passed.
For pet applications the timeframe for a decision is only 21 days from when the committee receives the request for an animal. If the applicant does not hear back from the committee the animal is deemed to have been approved.
Each committee member, whether executive or ordinary, only has one vote – even if a member holds multiple executive positions.
For a motion to pass at a committee meeting, the majority of the votes cast by those who are present must be in favour of the motion.
For VOCM, committee members must return votes within 21 days.
For a motion to pass at a VOCM, the majority of voting members on the committee must agree to the motion. If a majority of votes have not been received and no decision has been made within 21 days, the motion is considered not to have passed.
Example of Quorum v VOCM decisions:
If there are seven committee members and five attend a meeting a quorum has been achieved. The meeting can proceed.
However, VOCM votes are counted differently and the threshold for passing a motion is much higher than a physical meeting.
If we take the same motion, but this time it is considered by VOCM and two members don’t return a vote, two members can’t vote because of a debt and a conflict of interest, leaving three voting members who vote two for and one against. In this case the motion does not pass.
This is because there is a higher threshold to pass motions by VOCM.
Committee meeting minutes and records
The minutes, or record, of any committee decision, must be completed and circulated to all owners within 21 days of the decision, regardless of how the decision was made.
The minutes need to be a true and accurate reflection of what occurred and are usually sent by the secretary or the body corporate manager.
Minutes do not need to include a word-for-word transcript of the meeting.
The information that the minutes and records of VOCMs must contain are in section 71 of the Standard Module regulation and include, but are not limited to, the time and date of the meeting, names of those present, words of motions to be decided and the number of votes for and against a motion.
Notice of opposition
Under the Standard Module, once the minutes are sent to all owners the notice of opposition period commences. The opposition period gives owners seven days to oppose a decision.
To oppose a decision, at least half of the owners of the scheme must submit their opposition in writing to the committee.
The committee should not act on any decision until the opposition period has ended.
Committee decisions can have a significant impact on a body corporate, lot owners and occupiers. Therefore, complete transparency with all members of the body corporate is recommended.
Remember that our information service is here to answer your questions.
Call us at 1800 060 119 or submit your question through our online enquiry form found on our website.
This article is general information only and not a substitute for legal advice.
For more details on bodies corporate in Queensland, visit our website.
