Duties of committee members

Serving on a strata committee is both a privilege and an important responsibility. Committee members are elected by the Owners Corporation to help manage the day-to-day affairs of the scheme and make decisions that are in the best interests of all owners.

Committee members are expected to:

• Act honestly, fairly and with due care and diligence.
• Make decisions for the benefit of the Owners Corporation as a whole.
• Follow the Strata Schemes Management Act and the scheme’s by-laws.
• Keep appropriate records of meetings and decisions.
• Manage conflicts of interest appropriately.
• Respect confidential information obtained through their role.
• Support transparent and effective governance.

A successful committee does not need to know every answer—it needs access to sound professional advice and reliable information.

Our role is to support committees with practical guidance, legislative updates, governance advice and experienced strata management so committee members can confidently fulfil their responsibilities without feeling overwhelmed.

Most agency agreements appoint the strata manager to act as Chairperson, Secretary and or Treasure alongside, but not in place of, the committee members holding these roles as Office-bearers. It is important that committee members are appointed as Office-bearers so they can Chair meetings, call meetings (such as to terminating a manager) and approve invoices. If not appointed, then the strata manager is effectively in control. At Strata Real Estate Services we facilitate, educate and assist committee members in their Office-bearers jobs.

Office-bearer jobs

Strata committee members must also choose one or more people for the ‘office bearer’ jobs:

Chairperson: runs meetings, checks there is a ‘quorum’ for the meeting (enough people for a meeting to start), declares the result of a vote on a motion, follows the agenda to guide owners through the meeting,  maintains order at meetings and encourages owners to discuss items on the agenda in a fair, constructive and open manner.

Secretary: arranges meetings, prepares and gives out meeting agendas and minutes, updates the strata roll, issues notices, and does other administration including correspondence

Treasurer: keeps accounting records and issues levy notices

For more information visit Who’s who in strata | NSW Government