NSW: Are lot owners entitled to notice of strata committee meetings?

Question: Is the committee required to give lot owners notice of committee meetings? What are the implications if we meet without notifying lot owners?

We are a strata of 36 units. The Strata Committee of 5 members currently meets monthly. At other times when necessary, the minutes are circulated to owners. It appears (from the NSW Fair Trading website) we should be giving owners notice of Strata Committee meetings, however, we don’t want to do this for every meeting. It seems many Strata Committees are not giving notice to owners. Does someone have a summary of best practice, for example:

1. do we need to give owners notice of any SC meetings (noting that many other SCs don’t seem to do this)?
2. if so, is it ok to have formal and informal meetings and we only give notice of the formal meetings?
3. if so, how many formal meetings should we have each year (noting we currently have one, straight after the AGM)?
4. do we only need to circulate the minutes of the formal meetings?
5. are decisions made at informal meetings valid?
6. apart from notice, would there be a difference between an informal and a formal meeting?
7. anything else?

Answer: There are specific requirements that notice must be given for Strata Committee meetings to be held validly.

There are specific requirements that notice must be given for Strata Committee meetings to be held validly. If the required processes for the holding of meetings are not followed, there is the potential for all decisions being open to challenge and an Order invalidating these decisions if the provisions in the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 are not complied with.

For a scheme with 36 lots:

• Schedule 2 Section 5 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 applies. This specifies that notice of a meeting must be provided to each member of the Committee and each owner at least 3 days before the meeting. Part 2 of this section allows for the notice to be given by placing the agenda on a noticeboard, if one is maintained by the Owners Corporation.
• Clause 7 specifies that the notice of a meeting must include a detailed agenda for the meeting.
• The Interpretations Act 1987 Section 76 specifies that the service of a document by post is taken to have taken effect on the seventh working day after the agenda was posted so this needs to be taken into consideration for the correct notice to be given (if required).

There is no specific requirement for the Committee to hold a certain number of meetings under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.

This post appears in the December 2021 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.

Robert Fothergill
Strata Life
E: Robert@thestratalife.com.au
P: 02 9456 9917