Short answer
Minutes must be taken at every general and committee meeting, recording the decisions made, and copies must be provided to owners within 14 days after the meeting. They are the scheme’s official record of what was decided and are kept with its records.
What minutes must record
Minutes are the official account of the meeting, so they need to capture:
- The motions considered and the result of each — passed or not.
- Elections held, such as the strata committee.
- Key decisions and the details that make them actionable (amounts, funds, who is to do what).
A decision that isn’t recorded is hard to prove later, and disputes frequently turn on exactly what the minutes say.
The distribution deadline
The owners corporation must provide copies of the minutes within 14 days after the meeting. This can be done by sending them to owners or by displaying them on the scheme’s noticeboard where the scheme uses one. Missing the 14-day window is a compliance slip, and it leaves owners without the record they’re entitled to.
Keeping the record
Minutes don’t just get circulated — they’re retained as part of the scheme’s records and form part of the information available when someone inspects the scheme’s books. Accurate, complete minutes are what let a decision be relied on months or years later.
Keeping minutes right — without a manager
Recording every motion and result accurately, then getting the minutes out inside 14 days, is easy to let slip when nobody’s job is to do it. Straita builds the minutes straight from the meeting’s motions and results and tracks the 14-day distribution deadline, so a self-managed scheme’s record is complete, on time, and holds up if a decision is later questioned.
Primary sources
- Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) — minutes of meetings and the requirement to provide them within 14 days (Schedule 1).
- NSW Government — Strata schemes (Fair Trading) — meeting records and minutes.