A body corporate is made up of the collective owners of a community title development. To establish a body corporate, a community title scheme must be registered so that unit owners can become members upon purchasing individual lots. If you are looking for a property lawyer in Cairns for assistance with body corporate related matters, contact us today. Here, we explore the updated Body Corporate Laws in Queensland.
What is a Body Corporate?
A body corporate is an entity that is created when a parcel of land is subdivided and registered under the Land Title Act 1994. The functions of a body corporate include:
- Record keeping and financial management
- Securing building insurance
- Entering maintenance and facility management contracts
- Appointing agents for building management committees
- Implementing and enforcing development by-laws.
To learn more about what a body corporate does, visit our Body Corporate Advisory page.
Latest Updates to Body Corporate Laws Queensland
The latest updates to body corporate laws in Queensland cover four key areas: Committee Members, Committee Meetings, General Meetings and Administrative Matters.
Committee Members
The law changes for Committee Members include, but are not limited to:
- Co-owners eligible to be elected as voting committee members if they represent different lots.
- Minor committees can be elected outside of an AGM if the property has 3 or more lots and no more than 3 owners. Positions must be held jointly if the members cannot decide on who holds each mandatory executive position.
- To remove a committee member, an ordinary resolution can be passed, or they can be removed for breaching the Code of Conduct for Voting Members.
Committee Meetings
The law changes for Committee Meetings include, but are not limited to:
- Committee meetings can be held electronically.
- Owners who are not committee members can submit motions to be discussed at meetings, and any such motion must be resolved within six weeks.
- Body corporate members with outstanding body corporate debts cannot vote but their attendance will still count towards quorum.
General Meetings
The law changes for General Meetings include, but are not limited to:
- Owners are eligible to submit a motion for a first AGM, but a defect assessment motion needs to be included after the first AGM.
- The developer needs to present a number of documents during the first AGM including building warranties, development approvals, and so on.
- Motions regarding the same issue must be grouped together. The motion with the most votes will qualify as the body corporate decision.
- If a motion is deemed out of order by the person chairing the meeting, the reasoning must be recorded in the minutes.
- A Power of Attorney can only act on behalf of one owner.
- Live electronic votes can be cast or withdrawn by owners before the result is announced, and electronic voting systems must have a vote rejection feature to reject ineligible votes. Only the secretary should be able to see the votes cast.
Administrative Matters
The law changes for Administrative Matters include, but are not limited to:
- A committee member cannot receive any benefits (payment, commission, and so on) from a service contractor unless authorised by the body corporate.
- Before a body corporate enters into a contract, the exact monetary value of benefits, commissions and payments must be declared with complete transparency.
- Committees are allowed to spend more than their set limit for insurance when required.
Trusted Property Lawyer Cairns, QLD
WGC Lawyers has cemented a reputation as body corporate lawyers Cairns residents can trust. Contact us today for comprehensive assistance with regulations and codes that affect community title schemes.