If you own property affected by an owners corporation then you become a member of that owners corporation automatically. As a member, you have legal and financial responsibilities to the owners corporation.
Responsibilities of an owners corporation
An owners corporation must:
manage and administer the common property
repair and maintain the common property, fixtures and services
take out and maintain required insurance
raise fees from the lot owners to meet financial obligations
prepare financial statements and keep financial records
provide owners corporations certificates when requested
keep an owners corporation register
establish a grievance procedure.
It must also:
carry out any functions and duties under the Owners Corporations Act 2006, the Owners Corporations Regulations 2018, the owners corporation rules and any other law or regulation
ensure compliance with the Act, the Regulations and the rules.
Special rules for certain types of owners corporations
Special rules apply to certain types of owners corporations:
Two-lot subdivisions - Owners corporations with only two lots
Prescribed owners corporations - Owners corporations that have more than 100 lots or collect more than $200,000 in annual fees in any financial year
Multiple owners corporations - Common in large multi-storey buildings, commercial properties or developments that combine residential and commercial lots.
Four levels of an owners corporation
The owners corporation operates at four levels:
The owners corporation, consisting of all the lot owners.
The committee, consisting of elected lot owners or lot owners’ proxies.
A delegate of the owners corporation. For example: the chairperson, the secretary, a committee member, a lot owner, or an employee of the owners corporation.
A delegate of the committee. The committee may delegate to a lot owner, a manager or sub delegate to a member of the committee.
The owners corporation (all the lot owners):
keeps control of all decision-making
can delegate powers, but only for matters that do not require a unanimous or special resolution or that are required to be dealt with
can overturn an earlier decision of the owners corporation. Only the owners corporation can do this
can appoint sub-committees to advise the owners corporation. Sub-committees cannot make decisions.
The committee:
can make decisions on all matters delegated to it by the owners corporation except on matters that the owners corporation has determined must be decided at a general meeting.
A delegate:
can make decisions within the limits set by the owners corporation
cannot overturn a decision of the owners corporation or the committee.
Role of chairperson and secretary
An owners corporation committee must elect a chairperson. This person also becomes the owners corporation chairperson.
Your committee may not be legal if it fails to elect a chairperson, whose role is to run meetings in a way that encourages decisions. For more information about the chairperson’s role, view our Chairperson - owners corporations page.
An owners corporation must also have a secretary, who is responsible for tasks including managing correspondence and organising meetings. For more information about the secretary’s role, view our Secretary - owners corporation page.
All owners corporations, committees and delegates are required to:
act honestly and in good faith
exercise due care and diligence in carrying out their functions, powers and activities
not make improper use of their position to gain, directly or indirectly, an advantage for themselves or for any other person.
Decision-making in owners corporations
Your owners corporation makes a decision or resolution when its members vote at a meeting or by ballot. Votes are based on lots or lot entitlements, not by the number of individuals living in or owning a lot. This means:
a person who owns more than one lot has more than one vote
if two people own one lot, they only have one vote between them.
Decisions can be made by ordinary, special or unanimous resolutions, each requiring different percentages of the total votes.
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