Question: As owners are not allowed to speak at committee meetings unless given permission, are there any exceptions to this? Can the committee resolve at the meeting to permit a person to speak?
The Act says that owners are not allowed to speak at strata committee meetings unless permitted by a resolution of the strata committee.
Are there exceptions for asking questions/clarifications about the treasure’s report or expenditure by the strata committee etc?
Also, is there a definition of what constitutes a resolution in this regard? For instance, does it have to be a written resolution passed before the meeting? How long before the meeting? And can the resolution limit the topics and depth of the enquiry?
Or can the committee resolve at the meeting to permit a person to speak?
Answer: Owners are not allowed to speak at committee meetings unless permitted. The strata legislation does not mention any exceptions to this.
You are correct. Owners are only allowed to speak at committee meetings if permitted. No exceptions to this are listed in the strata legislation.
Is there a definition of what constitutes a resolution in this regard? Not specifically. However, once passed, a resolution is a motion. The legislation states:
“A motion put to a meeting is to be decided according to a majority of the number of the votes cast for and against the motion by the members present (other than any tenant member) or in the manner set out in subclause (2)”.
Nothing in the legislation mandates that the written resolution has to have been passed before the meeting.
Theoretically, and while it is not expressly permitted in the legislation, the resolution might be able to “conditionally” permit owners to address the strata committee based on your parameters “limit the topics and depth of the enquiry” which could also include restrictions on the duration of time that an owner is permitted to speak.
In our view, because an agenda must detail the motions to be resolved, for the committee to resolve at the meeting to permit a person to speak, there would either need to be a motion on the agenda or a generic authorisation resolved (at a meeting or as a written resolution) before the subject meeting. Often strata managers have a template included in standard agendas for strata committee meetings to consider whether owner observers may address the meeting in case non-member owner(s) attend.
Further, as an owner, you have rights to block the strata committee from considering a matter if you have support from other owners and together you have unit entailments that exceed 1/3 of the aggregate unit entitlement) (Sch 2, Section 9(3)) and if you give notice to the secretary of the owners corporation that you oppose the decision before the decision is made. An alternative approach is to requisition motions at the owners corporation/general meeting level seeking the detail/clarification you require, which may serve your purposes and would supersede a decision of the strata committee.
This post appears in Strata News #659.
Leanne Habib Premium Strata E: info@premiumstrata.com.au P: 02 9281 6440