Access to results of a ballot, including each owner's vote

The short answer is yes, however, subject to limits. The committee (or a committee member) can receive the detailed results of a ballot (including, in many cases, who voted which way). This is due to section 144 of the Owners Corporation Act 2006 (the Act), which requires the owners corporation (OC) to retain records of ballots. In addition, section 146 of the Act states that the OC, upon request by a lot owner, a mortgagee of a lot, a purchaser of a lot or the representative of a lot owner or mortgagee or purchaser of a lot, must make its records (including owner names and addresses and record of the results of ballots) available for inspection, free of charge, at any reasonable time.

However, there are legal constraints and privacy considerations. The Act does not explicitly say ballot results must be anonymised. Under section 172 of the Act, a lot owner whose name or other personal information is kept in the OC’s records or register may apply to VCAT for an order restricting access to that information in exceptional circumstances.

Thus, unless a restriction is imposed via a VCAT order (under section 172) or there is some overriding privacy law (which is limited in its application in this context), the committee can obtain the full results and details consistent with the record‑keeping and inspection rights.

The OC should ensure compliance with privacy obligations and ensure personal information is managed lawfully. For example, disclosing individual vote choices to anyone not an “eligible person” might constitute misuse of personal information.

The records must be inspected at reasonable times. The OC may require supervision to prevent misuse. They may only provide copies for a reasonable fee; however, they cannot charge for inspection.

Some items, such as voting papers or ballots, must only be kept for 12 months after the vote under the Act. If the ballot is older than that, the physical papers may no longer exist.

To summarise:-

• Yes — the committee can receive the detailed ballot results (including which owner cast which vote) if those details are part of the OC’s statutory records and have not been restricted by VCAT.
• However, it is not absolute: access may be limited by a VCAT order (under section 172), by privacy constraints, or by the way the ballot process was conducted (e.g. anonymised ballots).
• Any disclosure of personal voting details should be handled carefully, in line with data privacy principles and the rights of lot owners to apply for restriction of their personal information.