How to Run a Strata AGM in NSW: A Complete Guide for Self-Managed Schemes

An Annual General Meeting is the once-a-year meeting where the owners corporation (every lot owner in your scheme, collectively) makes the big decisions: approving accounts, setting next year’s budget, electing the committee, and voting on any motions owners have put forward.

In NSW, every strata scheme must hold an AGM at least once every financial year, with no more than 15 months between meetings. Miss this window and resolutions made afterward can be challenged at NCAT (NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal) (opens in a new tab).

The five things every NSW AGM must cover

Under Schedule 1 of the Act, an AGM must include:

1. Confirmation of the previous AGM’s minutes
2. Tabling of financial statements and accounts for the past financial year
3. Tabling of the insurance disclosure statement (what cover the scheme has, expiry date, premium)
4. Determination of contributions to the administrative and capital works funds (the levies)
5. Election of the strata committee (or confirmation if no election is required)

Everything else — by-law changes, contract approvals, building works — is optional, but if it’s going to be voted on, it must be on the agenda included with the notice. You cannot vote on something that wasn’t in the notice. This is the most common reason AGM decisions get overturned.

This is the bit most secretaries wish they’d had on day one. Work backwards from your meeting date.

Day -21 (three weeks out): Issue notice of meeting

NSW law requires at least 7 days’ notice for an AGM (Schedule 1, clause 5). In practice, 14–21 days is standard — it gives owners time to read the agenda, lodge proxies, and ask questions before the meeting.

Why issue earlier than the legal minimum? Two reasons. First, you’ll get higher attendance, which makes quorum easier. Second, if an owner challenges the notice (e.g. claims they didn’t receive it), having buffer days protects you.

Issue the notice to every owner on the strata roll by their preferred contact method (email or post — they nominate this).

Day -14: Agenda finalised, motions confirmed

By two weeks out, the agenda should be locked. If an owner asks to add a motion after this point, politely decline and tell them it can be tabled at the next general meeting. Adding items after notice is issued requires re-issuing the entire notice.

Day -7: Reminder and proxy collection

Send a reminder email or SMS. Confirm the venue is booked. Start collecting proxy forms — these must be received before the meeting starts, and you’ll want to know your “in-hand” numbers in advance.

Day -1: Print attendance sheet, confirm venue

Print the attendance/voting register — a list of every lot, its owner(s), unit entitlement, and a column for present/proxy/absent. Print spare proxy forms. Confirm the venue is open and accessible.

Day 0: The meeting

Start on time. (More on running the meeting in section 5.)

Day +14: Distribute minutes

The minutes must be distributed to all owners within 14 days of the meeting (Schedule 1, clause 10). This is a hard legal deadline.

Day +30: Action resolutions

Most resolutions take effect immediately, but levy changes require a 30-day notice period before owners are billed at the new rate. Update the strata roll if committee members changed.

A notice of meeting that’s missing required information is invalid, and any decisions made at the meeting can be challenged. Here’s what must be in it.

The seven required elements

Common notice errors that invalidate the meeting

• Insufficient notice period. Less than 7 days = invalid. Count carefully and exclude both the day of issue and the day of the meeting.
• Motion wording differs from notice. If the notice says “approve a budget of $48,000” and the meeting votes on $52,000, that vote is invalid. Use exact wording.
• Motion not in the notice gets voted on. Tempting in the heat of the moment, but don’t. Note the issue, defer it to the next general meeting.
• Notice sent to the wrong address. Always send to the address each owner has nominated on the strata roll. If they haven’t nominated one, use the address on title.
• Forgetting to attach the proxy form. This isn’t just an inconvenience — owners denied a proxy form can challenge the meeting’s validity.

This is where most first-time secretaries get stuck. The rules aren’t complicated, but they’re specific.

What is quorum?

Quorum is the minimum number of owners required for a meeting to make valid decisions. In NSW, quorum is at least 25% of the people entitled to vote, OR the owners of at least 25% of the total unit entitlement — whichever is the lesser.

A worked example

Say your scheme has 22 lots with a total unit entitlement of 2,200.

• 25% of people entitled to vote = 6 owners present
• 25% of unit entitlement = 550 UE represented

Quorum is met if either condition is satisfied. So if 4 owners turn up but they collectively own 600 UE worth of lots, you have quorum.

What if quorum isn’t met?

Don’t panic. NSW law has a built-in safety valve.

If quorum isn’t met within 30 minutes of the scheduled start time, the meeting is adjourned for half an hour. When it reconvenes, whoever is present forms a quorum (Schedule 1, clause 17). The meeting can proceed as normal.

This is a relief most secretaries don’t know about — it means a poorly-attended AGM can still validly transact business, provided you wait out the 30 minutes and record the adjournment in the minutes.

Who can actually vote?

Not everyone present can vote. To be eligible, an owner must be financial — meaning they’re not in arrears on levies by more than the threshold set in the Act (currently 90 days).

If an owner is unfinancial, they can attend the meeting and speak, but they cannot vote. This is one of the most overlooked compliance points — and one of the easiest ways to have a vote challenged later.

Ordinary vs special resolutions

Two resolution types matter at most AGMs.

A handful of decisions require unanimous resolution (every owner agrees, no one against), but these are rare at routine AGMs.

How votes are counted

By default, votes are counted on a “show of hands” — one vote per lot. But any owner can demand a poll vote, in which case votes are weighted by unit entitlement. For controversial motions or levy changes, polls are common.

Record the vote type in the minutes. “Motion carried on a show of hands” or “Motion carried on a poll — for: 1,450 UE; against: 600 UE.”

The legislation tells you what must happen but not how to actually run a meeting without it falling apart. Here’s the practical layer.

Before owners arrive

• Arrive 30 minutes early
• Set out the attendance register at the door
• Print spare copies of the agenda, financial statements, and proxy forms
• Set up chairs so people can see the chair (literally — not just metaphorically)
• Decide who will take minutes. Do this before the meeting. Don’t ask for a volunteer on the day.

Standard order of business

A typical AGM runs in this order:

1. Welcome and apologies — chair confirms who’s present, notes apologies
2. Confirmation of quorum — chair states this out loud, secretary records it in minutes
3. Confirmation of previous minutes — vote to approve last AGM’s minutes
4. Financial reports — table the accounts and insurance disclosure
5. Budget and levies — motion to approve administrative and capital works fund budgets
6. Motions — work through each motion on the agenda in order
7. Committee elections — call for nominations (often pre-nominated), vote
8. General business — any items raised that don’t require a vote
9. Close

Tips that come from experience, not legislation

• Start on time. Even if only three people are present. People learn meetings start on time and they show up on time. Meetings that drift get a reputation.
• The chair confirms quorum out loud. “I confirm we have quorum with 7 lots represented, representing 1,400 unit entitlement.” This goes in the minutes verbatim.
• One motion at a time. Don’t let discussion drift between motions. Bring the room back: “Let’s resolve motion 3 before discussing motion 5.”
• Call vote types explicitly. “All those in favour of the motion as written, please raise your hand… All against… Abstentions…” Then announce the result clearly.
• For close votes, switch to a poll. Any owner can demand it, but the chair can also call it for sensitive motions to avoid disputes.
• Take a break for long meetings. If you’re past 90 minutes, a 10-minute break resets attention. People also use it to talk amongst themselves and resolve disagreements informally.

What to do if a meeting gets heated

Strata meetings do get heated — usually about money (levy increases, special levies for repairs) or shared spaces (parking, pets, noise).

A few techniques that work:

• Acknowledge the emotion before redirecting. “I can see this is a real concern. Let’s hear from each lot once, then we’ll vote.”
• Time-box discussion. “We’ll spend 10 minutes on this motion, then move to a vote.”
• Don’t let one owner dominate. “Thanks Bob — let’s hear from someone who hasn’t spoken yet.”
• If it gets personal, the chair adjourns for 5 minutes. A short break almost always defuses things.
• Record decisions, not arguments. The minutes don’t need to capture who said what unkindly. They need to capture what was decided.

Minutes aren’t a transcript. They’re a legal record of decisions made and how those decisions were reached.

What minutes must contain

Under Schedule 1 of the Act:

1. The date, time, and place of the meeting
2. The names of those present, including proxies (with the lot they represent)
3. Confirmation that quorum was met (or that the 30-minute adjournment rule was applied)
4. The text of each motion and the result of the vote (for/against/abstain numbers)
5. Any resolutions passed, recorded verbatim

A simple minutes template structure

MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
[Scheme name and SP number]
[Date, time, location]

PRESENT
- [Name, Lot X, role if applicable]
- ...

PROXIES HELD
- [Proxy holder, lots represented]

APOLOGIES
- [Names]

QUORUM
Confirmed at [time] with [N] lots represented, totalling [N] unit entitlement.

1. CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES
Motion: That the minutes of the AGM held on [date] be confirmed.
Result: Carried (For: 7, Against: 0, Abstain: 1)

2. ADMINISTRATIVE FUND BUDGET
Motion: That the administrative fund budget of $48,000 for the financial year
2025-2026 be approved.
Result: Carried (For: 6, Against: 1, Abstain: 1)

... and so on for each agenda item ...

CLOSE
The meeting was declared closed at [time].

Signed: [Chair's name and date]

The 14-day distribution rule

Minutes must be distributed to all owners within 14 days of the meeting. Email is fine if the owner has nominated email as their contact method. Keep proof of distribution (email logs, postage receipts).

The meeting is over but you’re not done.

• Distribute minutes within 14 days (see above)
• Update the strata roll if committee members changed
• Action resolutions — file by-law changes with NSW Land Registry Services (opens in a new tab) within 6 months if any were passed
• Issue levy notices at the new rate — but remember, levies don’t take effect until at least 30 days after the AGM (or the date specified in the motion)
• File the insurance disclosure with the records
• Archive the meeting pack — notice, agenda, attendance register, proxy forms, signed minutes. Keep these for at least 7 years.

The shortlist of things that get AGM decisions overturned at NCAT:

• Insufficient notice period (less than 7 days, or notice not sent to all owners)
• Motion voted on but not included in the notice
• Motion wording changed from notice to meeting (e.g. amount changed)
• No quorum confirmation recorded in minutes
• Unfinancial owners voted (and the vote affected the outcome)
• Proxy forms not retained or filled out incorrectly
• Minutes distributed late (after 14 days)
• Special resolution treated as ordinary (or vice versa)

Each of these is fixable if you’re aware of it. Most secretaries who get tripped up didn’t know the rule existed.

If you’ve read this far, you already know more about running a NSW strata AGM than 80% of first-time secretaries walking into their first meeting. The legislation looks daunting from the outside, but the procedural backbone is actually quite predictable: notice → agenda → meeting → vote → minutes → action. Master that loop and the rest is detail.

A few final thoughts:

• Don’t aim for perfection on your first AGM. Aim for compliance. Polish comes with practice.
• Document everything. When in doubt, write it down. The minutes are your shield.
• Ask for help. NSW Fair Trading (opens in a new tab) has a free strata mediation service. The Owners Corporation Network (OCN) (opens in a new tab) has resources for owners. Your local NCAT registry will answer procedural questions.