What is an Owners Corporation Special General Meeting?

There may be numerous occasions when it is appropriate to call a Special General Meeting (“SGM”) of an Owners Corporation to attend to urgent business.

These situations may include:

• Urgent repairs that have not been budgeted for;
• Security issues;
• Problems with the management of the property; and
• Disputes with other members of the Owners Corporation.

These kinds of meetings may fail because:

• The meeting was not properly called; or
• The procedure for conducting the meeting was not properly followed.

What is a Special General Meeting?

Essentially, a Special General Meeting is any meeting of an Owners Corporation that is not an Annual General Meeting. [1] A Special General Meeting may be convened by: [2]

• The Chairperson of the Owners Corporation;
• The Secretary of the Owners Corporation;
• A Lot Owner nominated by lot owners whose collective lot entitlements total at least 25%;
• The manager of the Owners Corporation, if acting on authority from the Committee or if nominated by lot owners whose entitlements total at least 25%.

What should the person convening a Special General Meeting do?

Should an Agenda be given?

The person convening a Special General Meeting must prepare an agenda. [3]

If the person convening the meeting is a lot owner, the agenda should be approved by the nominating lot owners. Practically, this means the nominating owners must be notified of the draft agenda before being asked to approve it.

Should Notice be given?

The person convening a Special General Meeting must give written notice of the meeting to each lot owner at least 14 days before the meeting. Notice may be given electronically (for example, by email).

The notice should include: [4]

• (a) The date, place, and time of the Special General Meeting;
• (b) The agenda for the meeting;
• (c) The text of any special or unanimous resolution to be moved at the meeting; and
• (d) A statement that each lot owner has the right to appoint a proxy.

What happens after a Notice is given?

The meeting is then called and should be conducted in accordance with the standard procedure for Owners Corporation meetings.

If the correct procedure is not followed, any resolutions passed at the meeting will likely not be binding.

A quorum for a general meeting (including a Special General Meeting) is at least 50% of the total votes. If fewer than 50% of the total lots are present, the quorum is at least 50% of the total lot entitlement.

If a quorum is not present, any resolutions passed at the meeting will be interim resolutions. [5]

If there are interim resolutions, what happens?

Notice of all interim resolutions, including minutes of the Special General Meeting, must be sent to all lot owners within 14 days of the meeting. [6]

If lot owners wish to prevent an interim resolution from becoming final, a further Special General Meeting must be called. Notice must be given within the prescribed time limits, and the meeting must be held no earlier than 14 days and no later than 28 days after the notice date. [7]

Lot owners at that further meeting may then resolve to reject the interim resolution(s).

How can DSA Law help?

If you have an Owners Corporation issue or question, please Contact Us or one of our Commercial Lawyers at DSA Law on (03) 8595 9580 so we can assist you with your concerns.

[1] Owners Corporations Act 2006 (Vic) s 73.

[2] ibid s 74.

[3] ibid s 75.

[4] ibid s 76.

[5] ibid s 78.

[6] ibid.

[7] ibid.