Attending General Meetings of an Owners Corporation

The issue of who can and cannot attend a general meeting is usually not a matter for much consideration or concern of an Owners Corporation. However, when controversial issues arise or owners do not agree with how the Owners Corporation is being run, then this issue becomes very important. As a result below are some general guidelines and pointers to ensure that your attendance and vote is recognised at a general meeting of an Owners Corporation:

1. Any person who is registered as an owner on title is entitled to attend a general meeting of an Owners Corporation.

2. If there is more than one owner registered on title, then it is preferred (possibly even ideal) that the person attending has a proxy from the other owner to attend the meeting. That being said there is technically no requirement in Victoria for one owner of a jointly owned property to obtain a proxy from their co-owner to enable them to attend and vote at a general meeting of an Owners Corporation.

3. As a company is not a person, it cannot attend a meeting itself. However, a director of the company may attend the meeting without need of a proxy from the company. That being said where the company has more than one director, it is preferred if a proxy is provided from the company with at least two directors signing the proxy.

4. A proxy does form used to attend and vote at a meeting does not need to be perfectly completed - it needs to be sufficiently completed to enable the chairperson to identify:

   • who is giving the proxy and for which lot / property; and

   • who is receiving the proxy.

The above advice should not be considered as formal legal advice to any particular set of circumstances and is only intended as a guide. If you have any questions about the use of proxies or attending meetings of Owners Corporations in Victoria, we encourage to reach out so that your particular issue may be considered.

Does an Owners Corporation Committee have the power to terminate its Owners Corporation Manager?

Unless the Owners Corporation at a general meeting has resolved to have the issue of appointment or termination of a manager only considered, determined or decided on at a general meeting of all members of the Owners Corporation, the Committee will generally always have the power to appoint a new manager or terminate an existing manager. By Section 11 (5) of the Owners Corporations Act 2006, the Committee of an Owners Corporation is automatically delegated all the powers and functions of an Owners Corporation that it is capable of being delegated, which means if someone advises a Committee of an Owners Corporation that it does not have the power to terminate the manager then someone has taken deliberate steps to ensure that the incumbent manager is not removed between Annual General Meetings each year.

Who is liable to rectify domestic building defects in Owners Corporation affected buildings?

Whenever anyone buys into a new property they’re excited. However, they are not so excited to find out about building defects in their property or the building as a whole. A common mistaken belief is that the Developer of the building is liable to rectify or repair defects in the common property or your property. This position is not the case in Victoria. If there is a building defect in your property, it is generally the builder that is responsible and liable for the repair / rectification of the defect as it is the builder that did the building work as opposed to the Developer.