This article discusses whether you can elect an absent owner to committee under the Standard Module rules.
Question: Can an owner not present at the meeting be elected as an ordinary member?
When there are not enough nominations for the ordinary committee at the AGM and the chair calls for nomination from the floor, can an owner who does not attend the meeting be elected as an ordinary member?
Answer: If someone isn’t at the meeting, they cannot be elected from the floor of the meeting.
Section 38(2) of the Standard Module (equivalent provisions of other Regulation Modules) provides that the person chairing the meeting ‘…must invite nominations at the meeting’. Therefore, it seems clear that if someone isn’t at the meeting, they cannot be elected from the floor of the meeting.
Updated Answer: Since the original post, we have reflected on our response – and had some feedback from a reader – and would like to clarify that section 38(4) of the Standard Module (equivalent provisions of other Regulation Modules) might also come into play here, to allow for those not physically present to also be nominated.
As always, each individual case will be dependent on its facts and this is not intended to be legal advice.
This post appears in Strata News #668.
Chris Irons Strata Solve E: chris@stratasolve.com.au P: 0419 805 898