Question: If a committee member misses two consecutive meetings without leave, do they automatically lose their position? Who is responsible for enforcing this?
Our committee has a member who failed to attend consecutive meetings in the same financial year without lodging an apology. Does this automatically end their membership on the committee? If so, who enforces this? Some committees may not be aware of this rule. Should the body corporate manager raise it after each meeting?
If the member’s position ends, can they return during the current financial year, or are they effectively barred until the next AGM? Could they give an undertaking to participate fully and be renominated?
Does the casual vacancy have to be filled, and what happens if there are no candidates? What’s to stop another owner from being nominated who has just as little intention of showing up? The only interested party appears to be the person at risk of removal.
Answer: A committee member’s term of office ends automatically if they miss two consecutive meetings without the committee’s leave.
A committee member’s term of office is provided for under section 44 of the Body Corporate and Community Management (Standard Module) Regulation 2020 (the Regulation) (equivalent provisions of other Modules). Your specific query in relation to the ending of that term of office is covered under section 44(2)(d) of the Regulation, which provides that a position becomes vacant where a member is “not present personally, by proxy or by any electronic means authorised by a resolution of the committee, at 2 consecutive meetings of the committee without the committee’s leave.”
Who’s responsible for enforcing this? It is automatic. The legislation provides that the term of office ends at that point. It’s a form of self-regulation, if you want to think of it that way. Oversight for that rests with the rest of the committee and with the owners. To put it another way: if it becomes apparent that a committee member’s term ends this way and nothing is being done about it, an owner can take steps to make it happen. A professional and knowledgeable body corporate manager should be aware of this, yes, and should raise it with the committee. To be clear, the body corporate manager has no decision-making power or enforcement capability.
There is no ‘barring’ for them as a result of this. Nothing is stopping the committee from reappointing that person to a casual vacancy, although why on earth they would do so is another matter entirely. They could be ineligible for other reasons, though (e.g., they are not financial). They can be renominated, and there is no obligation for them to give an undertaking. That said, it is open to you or any other owner to make others aware of that person’s lack of attendance. Be careful on this: there may be some very good — and very personal — reasons for non-attendance. You might also want to consider that some people will react very badly to being told they have not attended meetings and will be booted off the committee as a result.
The casual vacancy must be filled. The number of committee members elected at an AGM must be maintained until the next one. If there are no candidates, I can only assume no one is putting their hand up or expressing an interest. If that is the case, your body corporate has some problems.
What if you can’t find another willing owner? I’ll answer this by asking you a question: how would someone’s interest in participating be measured anyway? Do they sign a stat dec promising to participate? Do they take a test? An oath? Our system of body corporate regulation in Queensland relies, rightly or wrongly, on owners being sufficiently engaged to protect their investment by participating in decision-making. If they cannot or will not do so, they must be prepared to accept the inevitable consequences, and, unfortunately, the onus falls to the engaged owners to pick up the slack. Is that fair? Hardly. That’s what we have got, though. I personally believe that legislation should allow bodies corporate to contract out committee responsibilities to a professional in full. That’s just my view, of course.
This is general information only and not legal advice.
This post appears in the June 2026 edition of The QLD Strata Magazine.
Chris Irons Strata Solve E: chris@stratasolve.com.au P: 0419 805 898
