QLD body corporate voting: ordinary and special resolutions explained

Queensland bodies corporate are governed by the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (BCCM Act) together with a regulation module — most commonly the Standard Module, with Accommodation, Commercial and Small Schemes modules for other scheme types. The Act and your module set which decisions need which kind of vote, and getting the resolution type wrong is one of the most common reasons a body corporate decision is later challenged.

Where decisions are made

There are two decision-making levels:

• The committee handles day-to-day administration between general meetings. It decides by a majority of committee members' votes, at a committee meeting or by a "vote outside committee meeting" (a written/electronic flying minute).
• General meetings (the AGM, or an EGM called during the year) decide everything the committee cannot. Some matters are restricted issues that a committee is never allowed to decide — for example, setting levies, changing by-laws, starting most legal proceedings, or spending above its authorised limits. Those must go to the owners at a general meeting.

Resolution types at a general meeting

Every motion on a general-meeting agenda is decided by one of four resolution types. The agenda must state which one applies.

Ordinary resolution

The default. A motion passes if more votes are cast in favour than against. Abstentions are not counted. A tie means the motion fails.

Special resolution

Required for weightier decisions — changing by-laws, some common-property dealings, and other matters the Act nominates. In Queensland a special resolution is not a simple percentage. It passes only if all three limbs are met:

1. At least two-thirds of the votes cast are in favour, and
2. the votes against are not more than 25% of the number of lots in the scheme, and
3. the lots whose owners voted against represent not more than 25% of the contribution schedule lot entitlements.

The second and third limbs mean a motion can attract two-thirds support and still fail if the "no" votes are concentrated across enough lots or entitlements — a deliberate protection for minority owners.

Resolution without dissent

The strictest test: the motion fails if even one vote is cast against it. Abstentions don't block it. Required for the most significant decisions, such as changing contribution schedule lot entitlements in most circumstances.

Majority resolution

Passes only if a majority of all voters for the scheme — not just those who turn up and vote — support the motion. It is used for a small set of module-specific decisions, and it is deliberately hard to reach in schemes with disengaged owners.

Notice, quorum, and voting methods

• Notice: written notice of a general meeting, including the agenda and the full text of each motion, must generally be given at least 21 days before the meeting.
• Quorum: under the Standard Module the starting rule is 25% of eligible voters (with a minimum of two), reducing in some circumstances if a quorum isn't reached — check your module's exact provision.
• How owners vote: in person at the meeting, by written or electronic voting paper lodged before the meeting, or by proxy. Proxies have limits — a person can hold only a limited number, and proxies cannot be used for some decisions (for example, committee ballots at an AGM under the Standard Module).
• Who can vote: an owner who owes a body corporate debt (such as unpaid levies) at the time of the meeting generally cannot vote on most motions — another commonly missed rule that changes outcomes.

Common mistakes that void votes

1. Wrong resolution type on the agenda — a by-law change put as an ordinary resolution is invalid even if it passes unanimously.
2. Motion text changed at the meeting beyond what the notice allowed.
3. Counting abstentions as votes cast — they are not, and they change the two-thirds arithmetic.
4. Missing the entitlement limb of the special resolution test because only the show of hands was counted.
5. Letting an unfinancial owner vote, then having the result challenged.

How StrataPilot handles this

StrataPilot's voting module encodes these rules: each motion is created with its resolution type, ballots record exact counts, results are computed against the right threshold automatically, and the tally (including the special-resolution limbs) is written into a result document the moment the poll closes — so the AGM minutes always show why a motion passed or failed.

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This guide is general information about Queensland legislation, current as at the "last updated" date above — it is not legal advice. For decisions that matter, check the current BCCM Act and your scheme's regulation module, or ask the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management.