This article discusses whether a non-owner body corporate committee appointment is valid, including when family members, powers of attorney, or company nominees are eligible to serve and vote.
Question: Our chairperson has appointed his uncle as secretary of the committee. The uncle is not a lot owner. Is an uncle classified as a family member? Would this appointed member have voting rights on the committee?
Answer: An uncle is not automatically eligible to be nominated on the committee.
A properly appointed voting committee member will have a vote in a committee meeting regardless of whether they are an owner or not.
Family is defined in the regulation module to include the following persons—
- the individual’s spouse;
- each of the children of the individual or the individual’s spouse who is 18 years or more, including a step-child or an adopted child;
- each of the individual’s parents, including a step-parent;
- a brother or sister of the individual.
Accordingly, an uncle is not automatically eligible to be nominated on the committee.
However, a person acting under a power of attorney (PoA) of an owner is eligible to be on the committee. Accordingly, if the uncle committee member was nominated on the basis of a PoA they are eligible to be a committee member.
Further, if the owner of the lot was a company, the regulation module is quite flexible to allow the company to nominate a person to be on the committee.
The same rules apply to accommodation, standard and small scheme modules.
This post appears in Strata News #633.
Todd Garsden Mahoneys E: tgarsden@mahoneys.com.au P: 07 3007 3753