WA: Eight council members were elected at our AGM despite the seven-member maximum — what happens now?

Question: At our last AGM, 8 council members were elected. The strata manager defended the decision stating one or two people would drop out. The process was not adequately recorded in the minutes. What happens now?

At our last AGM, 8 council members were elected even though we have no by-laws allowing that.

When questioned about this, the strata manager responded:

”There was no need for a ballot vote as the majority voted for 8 council members at the AGM (1 reserve member) knowing that 1 or 2 would drop off (which did happen [1], even before the minutes were circulated).’“

The AGM minutes state:

”It was resolved unanimously via a show of hands that the council elect 8 members, instead of the odd number of 7 members in the event that 1 or more members choose/s to resign. By unanimous resolution by those newly elected councillors, it was agreed that AB be the Chairperson.”

The chairperson of the COO was also elected at the AGM, which is not as noted in the by-law.

What is the protocol in a case like this, as it is clearly against the strata legislation and by-laws?

Answer: As this decision to elect 8 members is in conflict with the Act, the vote would be invalid.

The council of a strata company must be constituted and perform its functions in accordance with the Strata Titles Act and the scheme by-laws.

The Strata Titles Act Governance by-law 4(3) states that no more than 7 members can be elected for the council of owners. As this decision to elect 8 members is in conflict with the Act, the vote would be invalid.

As further outlined in the governance by-laws, the council positions need to be determined at the first meeting of the strata council (by-law 6(1)). For which 7 days’ notice is required to be given before said meeting (by-law 8(2)(a)). Since the election of the council members occurred at the AGM, seven days’ notice of a council meeting would have not been supplied and therefore also invalidating the election of the COO member to chairperson.

Rick Blampey
SVN Perth
E: rblampey@svn.com.au
P: 08 9427 7955