How to Write Strata Meeting Minutes That Actually Hold Up

Most first-time secretaries write too much, not too little. They try to capture who said what, the emotional tone of the room, and every back-and-forth in the discussion. The result is a document that’s hard to read, easy to dispute, and longer than it needs to be.

A well-written set of minutes is short, factual, and unambiguous. It says what happened, what was voted on, and what was decided — and very little else.

The legal requirements for strata meeting minutes are set out in Schedule 1 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW). Minutes must contain:

1. The names of those present — owners attending in person, proxies, and the lots they represent
2. A note of any motion passed, recorded in the exact wording of the motion
3. The result of each vote, including counts (For / Against / Abstain) or unit entitlement totals if a poll was called
4. Confirmation that quorum was met (or that the 30-minute adjournment rule was applied)
5. The financial statements tabled at an AGM
6. The name of the chair of the meeting
7. The date, time, and place of the meeting

A typical set of NSW strata minutes follows this structure:

1. Header (scheme name, plan number, meeting type, date, time, location)
2. Attendance list (present, proxies, apologies, absent)
3. Quorum confirmation
4. Election of chair (if not already elected)
5. Each agenda item, with the motion text, vote breakdown, and result
6. Close (declared time)
7. Signature block (chair and secretary)

A copy-and-adapt template

MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Owners — Strata Plan No. [SP number]
[Street address, suburb, state, postcode]
Held on [day, date] at [time]
Location: [venue] (and [video link / meeting ID] if hybrid)

PRESENT (in person)
- [Name, Lot X, role if applicable]

PRESENT (by proxy)
- [Proxy holder] as proxy for [Name] (Lot X)

APOLOGIES
- [Name, Lot X]

ABSENT
- Lots [...] (no representative)

QUORUM
Confirmed at [time] with [N] lots represented
([N] in person, [N] by proxy), totalling [N] of [N] total UE.

1. CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES
Motion: "That the minutes of the meeting held on [date] be
confirmed as a true and correct record."
Ordinary resolution. For: [N]. Against: [N]. Abstain: [N].
Carried / Not carried.

2. [AGENDA ITEM TITLE]
Motion: "[Exact wording from the notice of meeting]"
[Ordinary / Special / Unanimous] resolution.
Vote conducted by [show of hands / poll].
For: [N]. Against: [N]. Abstain: [N].
Carried / Not carried.

... one numbered section per agenda item ...

CLOSE
The meeting was declared closed at [time].

Chair: [Name] (Lot X)   Signed: __________  Date: __ / __ / ____
Secretary: [Name] (Lot X)  Signed: __________  Date: __ / __ / ____

A single line is the most overlooked requirement in NSW minutes — and the most common reason decisions get challenged. Write exactly what the chair stated:

Quorum was confirmed at 6:32 PM with 5 lots represented (3 in person, 2 by proxy), totalling 1,400 unit entitlement of 2,200 total UE.

If quorum wasn’t met initially and the 30-minute rule was applied:

Quorum was not initially met at 6:30 PM. The meeting was adjourned for 30 minutes in accordance with Schedule 1, clause 17 of the Act. Reconvened at 7:00 PM with 4 lots represented (in person), constituting quorum under the adjournment rule.

Either version protects the meeting. Skipping this line entirely creates ambiguity that an unhappy owner can exploit. (See our quorum guide for how the calculation works.)

This is the bulk of the document. Each motion gets its own numbered section.

Worked example — ordinary resolution:

Motion 3 — Approval of administrative fund budget

“That the owners corporation approve the administrative fund budget of $48,000 for the financial year 2025-2026, with levies to be raised quarterly in equal instalments.”

Ordinary resolution. Vote conducted by show of hands.

For: 5. Against: 0. Abstain: 0. Carried.

For a special resolution decided by poll, include UE totals:

Motion 7 — By-law amendment: smoking restrictions

“That the owners corporation amend the by-laws to add a new by-law 24, prohibiting smoking on balconies, terraces, and common property areas. The new by-law to take effect on the date of registration with NSW Land Registry Services.”

Special resolution. Vote conducted by poll (demanded by Lot 4).

For: 1,640 UE. Against: 380 UE. Abstain: 180 UE. Carried. Against votes represented 18.8% of UE cast, below the 25% threshold for special resolutions.

The “below the 25% threshold” annotation isn’t required, but it shows your work — useful if the resolution is later challenged. (More on thresholds in our resolutions guide.)

What about discussion?

For most motions, the discussion doesn’t need to appear in the minutes. The motion was proposed, voted on, decided. That’s the record. If the discussion is substantive (a specific legal concern, a challenged quote, a procedural objection), record it briefly in neutral language:

Discussion: Lot 9 raised a concern about contractor insurance coverage. The chair confirmed that the proposed contractor holds $20M public liability cover, evidence of which was provided with the notice.

Avoid recording who said what unless it matters legally. “Lot 7 disagreed with Lot 4” adds nothing. “Lot 7 raised a procedural objection that the motion exceeded the financial threshold in by-law 14” is worth recording because it might be referenced later.

The close is one line:

The meeting was declared closed at 8:45 PM.

No summary. No “everyone agreed it was a productive meeting.” Just the closing time. NSW law doesn’t strictly require both signatures, but it’s strong practice: the chair signs to confirm the minutes accurately reflect the meeting, and the secretary signs to confirm authorship.

Minutes must be sent to every owner within 14 days of the meeting (Schedule 1, clause 10). Method: whichever delivery each owner has nominated on the strata roll — most commonly email. Keep proof of distribution:

• Email delivery logs (most email clients save these automatically)
• Postage receipts if any owners receive paper copies
• A signed acknowledgement if delivered in person

If you miss the 14-day window, resolutions made at the meeting become harder to defend. NCAT (opens in a new tab) has set aside decisions purely on the basis of late minute distribution.

At the next general meeting, the first substantive item is always:

Motion 1 — Confirmation of previous minutes

“That the minutes of the meeting held on [date] be confirmed as a true and correct record.”

Ordinary resolution. Result: Carried / Not carried.

This is the moment errors get raised. If an owner disputes the minutes (“I never said that” / “the vote count is wrong”), they raise it here. The minutes can be amended, then confirmed as amended.

1. No quorum confirmation. Always state it.
2. Motion wording rephrased. The motion in minutes must match the notice word-for-word. Don’t paraphrase.
3. Vote counts missing. “The motion was carried” without For/Against/Abstain leaves the threshold unverifiable.
4. Resolution type unstated. If you don’t note “ordinary” or “special”, later readers can’t tell if the threshold was applied correctly.
5. Editorialising. “After a heated debate” doesn’t belong in minutes. Stick to facts.
6. Recording who said what during discussion. Unless legally significant, this just creates ammunition for future disputes.
7. Inconsistent date formats. Pick one (15 June 2025 or 15/06/2025) and stick to it throughout.
8. Distribution beyond 14 days. The hardest mistake to fix retroactively.

At the next meeting, an owner points out that Motion 3 of the previous meeting recorded a “For” count of 5 when it should have been 4. How do you handle it? In the new meeting’s minutes:

Motion 1 — Confirmation of previous minutes

“That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2025 be confirmed as a true and correct record, with the following amendment: Motion 3 vote count corrected from ‘For: 5’ to ‘For: 4’.”

Ordinary resolution. Result: Carried.

The corrected version replaces the original. The original is not deleted from the record — both versions exist (the original as drafted, the amendment captured in the next meeting’s minutes).

Step by step, what to do as the secretary:

During the meeting

• Note the start time, attendance, and quorum confirmation immediately
• For each motion, write the exact wording (from the notice — don’t re-type it from scratch)
• Capture the vote breakdown as it’s announced
• Note any procedural objections in one sentence
• Note the close time

Within 24 hours

• Type up the minutes from your notes
• Cross-check motion wording against the notice of meeting
• Cross-check vote counts against the attendance register

Within 7 days

• Have the chair review the draft
• Make any agreed corrections
• Sign and finalise

Within 14 days

• Distribute to all owners by their nominated method
• Keep proof of distribution
• File the signed copy in the scheme records

The 24-hour and 7-day milestones are practical recommendations, not legal requirements — but they protect against the 14-day legal deadline becoming a crisis.

NSW strata schemes must keep minutes for at least 7 years. Most schemes keep them indefinitely — they’re useful historical records showing how decisions evolved, why certain rules were introduced, and what the scheme has previously approved or rejected. Store them somewhere central and accessible:

• A locked filing cabinet at the on-site office (if any)
• A digital archive with the strata manager
• A cloud folder accessible to current and future committee members

When the committee changes hands, the new secretary should receive every minute set from the past several years as part of the handover.

Stratasphera generates minutes automatically from the meeting record — drawing on the attendance taken on the platform, the proxies registered, and the votes recorded against each motion as the meeting progresses. The output:

• Pre-populated with quorum confirmation, motion text, and vote results
• Formatted to NSW compliance requirements
• Editable by the secretary for any added context
• Distributed to all owners with a single action, with delivery confirmation logged
• Archived in the scheme’s document library, searchable by date and motion

For self-managed schemes, this turns 4–6 hours of post-meeting work into 15 minutes of review.

Try Stratasphera free for 30 days →