Question: Can an owner be excluded from voting at a general meeting on the grounds of a pecuniary interest?
The Act is very clear about disclosing a pecuniary interest for committee members, but it’s silent when it comes to owners corporation meetings.
Can an owner be excluded from voting at an owners corporation meeting on the grounds of a pecuniary interest?
Answer: The Act is largely silent on pecuniary interest at general meetings, but owners should always consider the collective good, not just their own.
This is an interesting aspect of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (the Act) regarding the relationship between an owners corporation generally and the strata committee.
Some things discussed in relation to the owners corporation are not discussed in relation to the strata committee, and vice versa.
Other than the original owner (and potentially parties connected to the original owner) and strata and building managers, the Act is relatively silent on pecuniary interests of owners at general meetings, perhaps that is because there is an understanding that all owners have some sort of pecuniary interest in the decisions of the owners corporation which would be hard to legislate out of.
That said, I personally think it would be worthwhile reminding owners (at least generally) that when they are considering items at a general meeting, they might well be doing so as members of a collective, and not only in their own self-interest.
This omission does allow owners to vote on their own proposals (in which they have an inherent, and likely obvious self-interest, for example, by-laws conveying rights to their lot), and I’m not sure I’d advocate for a removal of such a right.
However, I feel this is a very good introduction to my general observation that all owners should interest themselves in the management of their scheme, and that they not simply accept at face value the information (or sometimes just opinions) being put forward by any one owner or bloc of owners (whether committee members or not) or the strata manager. They should form their own view on what actions they consider are not only in their own best interests within that collective, but also what is best for the wider collective.
To be explicit, it is my very strongly held belief (backed by my experiences as a strata owner and strata manager) that when as many owners as possible Act in the interests of the collective, all owners benefit.
The lived experience of many in strata is very far from that ideal, but I’m not sure what legislative steps could be taken to ensure it is followed.
This post appears in the August 2026 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Sean McNamara
Select Strata Reports
E: sean@selectstratareports.au
P: 0414 920 726
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