This article discusses whether a QLD body corporate chairperson can change an AGM date after it has been set. What is the process if the deadline for notice of motions and nominations have already closed?
Question: Can the chairperson change the AGM date after it has been set and notice of motions and nominations have closed?
In January 2025, the committee scheduled our AGM for 24 November. Our financial year ends on 30 August, and the body corporate distributed the nomination and motion forms, with submissions closing on 30 August.
At the end of September, we were informed that the chairperson was unhappy with the AGM date and wanted it changed. Is this allowed, and if so, what is the correct process for changing the AGM date?
Answer: Write to the committee and ask them to provide a rationale for the date change.
The legal requirement is that the AGM must be called within three months of the end of a scheme’s financial year. As your financial year closed at the end of August, the meeting needs to be held by the end of November.
You are still within that timeline, so there isn’t a problem with the change of date, but there may be with some issues with the communication around the change.
To give your committee some credit, it seems like they have tried to set up an orderly meeting by establishing the date in advance. They have also provided a month’s notice of the cancellation, so they are giving owners due notice.
What we don’t know from your communication is why the committee want to change that date. There could be numerous valid and rational reasons to do so, but the committee needs to provide a clear explanation to owners if it needs to change the date. Equally, there could be unreasonable reasons to change the meeting. You mention that it’s the chair’s choice. If you have one person making unilateral decisions, that’s usually a negative.
As a next step, you could write to the committee and ask them to provide a rationale for the date change.
If necessary, you could submit an owners motion. However, provided the intention was to hold the meeting within the three month period allowed, I’m not sure there is much else you can do. At some point, you will have the meeting, and any issues over the change of date will become moot.
William Marquand Tower Body Corporate E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au P: 07 5609 4924
This post appears in Strata News #765.
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