What is a special general meeting, and how does it differ from an AGM or a committee meeting?
There are three main types of meetings for an owners corporation; Annual General Meetings (AGMs), Committee Meetings, and Special General Meetings (SGMs). This article deals with the SGM, which is the least common type of meeting for a large owners corporation.
An SGM is a meeting for all owners of the owners corporation, but unlike the AGM, there is no content requirements as legislated by the Owners Corporations Act.
An SGM is any general meeting (all owners are invited) of the owners corporation that is not an AGM.
The purpose of an SGM is to deal with one or more specific items, that cannot be addressed by the committee, and cannot wait until the next AGM. These items could include:
an item requiring a special resolution - an amendment to the rules, or approval to raise a special levy which is more than double the annual fees as approved by an AGM
an item requiring a unanimous resolution - an amendment to the plan of subdivision
removing an OC manager
adding or removing a committee member or replacing or removing a committee.
An SGM will usually have only one or two items on the agenda, without 'general business' items at the end. All items that are on the agenda that is published as part of the notice of meeting, including all motions, must be addressed during the meeting.
The notice of meeting
Like AGMs and committee meetings, there are legislative requirements around the notice of meeting, for any of the resolutions or elections at the meeting to be valid and upheld in a court of competent jurisdiction. The people who may convene an SGM are:
the chairperson of the owners corporation; or
the secretary of the owners corporation; or
a lot owner nominated by lot owners whose lot entitlements total at least 25% of all lot entitlements for the land affected by the owners corporation; or
the manager of the owners corporation, (either a) acting on the authority of the committee, b) if nominated by lot owners whose lot entitlements total at least 25% of all lot entitlements for the land affected by the owners corporation, or c) in the absence of a committee.
Notice must be given in writing to each lot owner at least 14 days before the meeting, either by post or by email
The notice must include the date, time and place of the meeting, the meeting agenda, the text of any special resolution or unanimous resolution to be moved at the meeting, and a statement the lot owner has the right to appoint a proxy.
Quorum
A quorum for a general meeting is at least 50% of the total votes, or if 50% of the total votes is not available the quorum is at least 50% of the total lot entitlement.
The legislation around an SGM proceeding without a quorum is the same as for an AGM: If there is not a quorum, the general meeting may proceed but all resolutions are interim resolutions.
Notice of the interim resolutions and the minutes of the meeting must be forwarded to all lot owners within 14 days of the meeting, along with a statement regarding the interim resolutions - the OC manager will be able to do this. Interim resolutions then become resolutions of the owners corporation within 28 days unless more than 25% of the membership object - please see the Owners Corporations Act for more details.
A qualified owners corporation manager from Melb OC can chair an SGM - contact us to find out more.