Does the meaning of “one of their number” in the Owners Corporation Act 2006 amended refer to a lot owner present at a general meeting or can it be a proxy? Are lot owners entitled to obtain a copy of recorded meetings? – Daniela, VIC

Q: I have 2 questions: 1) does the meaning of "one of their number" in subsection 79(1) of the Owners Corporation Act 2006 a amended, refer to a lot owner present at a general meeting or can it be a proxy? 2) recently an AGM took place via Zoom, it was chaired by our Owners Corporation Manager, without him being elected as chair. Participants were muted, not allowed to record proceedings and prevented from asking/ discussing agenda items for resolution. The chair recorded the meeting and claimed he used them to produce the Minutes of the AGM. Are those recordings considered to be a source document from which the minutes were produced and would lot owners be entitled to obtain a copy if requested?

A: “One of their number” refers to the lot owners present at a meeting. Given that proxies are trusted individuals appointed by lot owners to represent them at meetings and are authorised to attend, speak and vote, they will be counted as “one of their number” in the case of meetings.

When it comes to recording online and virtual meetings, there has to first be consent given by all participants before recording can start. Without consent, even if the manager has already recorded the meeting, they will not be allowed to keep the recording. To make things easier for future meetings that are to be recorded, it may be best to have a special by-law that speaks to the act of recording online and virtual meetings.

Given that the recorded video also acts as meeting minutes, it should be within each lot owners rights to be able to request a copy of the recording. The only cases in which this may be denied or special considerations are necessary is if there is a private matter being discussed that is recorded. In such cases, there may be a requirement for special access and/or expiry periods for requested recordings.