In an Owners Corporation, a new Committee is elected at each Annual General Meeting by the lot owners. This Committee is responsible for the administrative and day-to-day running of the community, including making decisions on behalf of lot owners, and enforcing lawful decisions of the Owners Corporation. Committees are comprised of the Chairperson, the Secretary, and Ordinary Members. Here we take a closer look at some of the duties of the Secretary.
What is the role of a Secretary?
The Secretary has various duties in their role as a member of the Committee, and one of these is calling Committee and General Meetings. The Committee Secretary must advise Owners of any upcoming Committee Meetings by distributing notices to owners.
For an AGM, the Secretary may receive completed proxy forms for General and Committee meetings prior to, or at, the commencement of the meeting. In both Committee and General meetings, the Secretary is also required to take minutes and circulate copies of these to lot owners. They must also keep a record of the outcome of any decisions taken by the Committee outside of a General meeting.
As an extension of these record-keeping tasks, the Secretary obtains quotes or tenders for major expenditure on common property when the project is proposed by the Committee. The Secretary also deals with any incoming or outgoing correspondence required of the Committee, which includes approvals for renovations or owning a pet, as well as attending things such as the renewal of insurance policies.
These secretarial duties and responsibilities can be discharged by the appointment of an Owners Corporation Manager. If you have an Owners Corporation Manager, many of your duties may be undertaken by them. The specific duties will be outlined in your agreement with the Manager. It is important to note the Owners Corporation Manager is not in charge – they work for and with the Committee.
The Owners Corporation Manager can only do what the community asks them to, which means they may either be engaged to assist the Committee, or as is often the case, to perform the duties of the Secretary. However, the Owners Corporation Manager does not have voting rights over any matter, and functions only as an administrator. Smaller schemes without a Committee may engage and authorise an Owners Corporation Manager to undertake all the functions of a Committee. This can also be done for larger Owners Corporations but is not common.