Vacancies on the Council
Discover the details of vacancies on the council and how they could impact your community.
A vacancy arises mid-term... what should we do?
The Council can continue to function if they still have the required number of Council members to form a quorum. See the table below.
What if we have 1 vacancy and 2 owners nominate themselves to join the Council. Can we accept both owners onto the Council, if we still have less than 7 members overall?
No. If the minutes of the last meeting state that the Council is to consist of 3 members and one resigns, then there is 1 vacancy which may be filled. If the Council consisted of 4 members and 2 resigned, the Council then has 2 vacancies and could accept 2 new Council members.
How do the remaining Council members fill vacancies?
If the remaining members of the Council wish to fill a vacancy, they may advertise that a position has arisen (E.g., on the Facebook Group Page, letterbox drop etc). If several people volunteer to backfill one position, it is up to the existing Council members to discuss and decide who they would like to appoint. Once appointed, the new Council member will serve alongside the existing Council members, for the remainder of the term.
If the existing Councillors chose not to fill a vacancy and they still have a quorum, that is their decision and they will continue as is, until the end of the term. If they seek to fill a vacancy and a person nominates who they feel is unsuited to the role, they may decline to accept that nomination and so long as they have a quorum, they may continue until the end of the term with a vacancy.
What if there is no Council?
This situation is not unheard of. Entire Councils may resign mid-term, or sometimes, during an AGM, no owners or insufficient owners (less than 3) nominate themselves to be Council members. Where this situation occurs, all owners then become the Council for the following 12 months. However, getting majority votes to make simple decisions, rarely works in practice and the Strata Manager is left unable to do much on behalf of the scheme, other than the basic functions.
An EGM can be called if 25% of owners agree that they need to have a meeting in order to install a Council. Once 25% of owners have formally put their names to the request, Abode Strata can then issue a meeting notice to all owners.
Casual Vacancy vs Vacant position (there is a difference)
- Casual Vacancy:
A casual vacancy arises when an elected member of the strata council resigns, is disqualified, or can no longer serve (e.g. selling out of scheme). The vacancy occurs during the council's term of office, and the remaining council members may either:
Appoint a replacement from eligible lot owners or
Leave the position vacant until the next AGM, at which point a new election can be held.
- Vacant Position:
A vacant position refers to a situation where no one has been elected to a council seat at the outset. This often happens when there are fewer nominations than available council positions. Vacant positions remain unfilled until the next opportunity for nominations, usually at a subsequent AGM or if an Extraordinary General Meeting is called to fill the position (EGM)
In short, a casual vacancy occurs mid-term and involves replacing an outgoing member, while a vacant position exists when a seat is unfilled from the start.