straita

Committee Roles

What does the strata chairperson do?

Short answer

The strata chairperson runs the scheme’s meetings — presiding over general and committee meetings, keeping discussion orderly, and making sure each motion is properly put and voted on. It’s a role about running fair, effective meetings rather than wielding extra power over the outcome — the decisions are made by the owners’ votes, which the chair facilitates.

What the chairperson does

  • Presides over general meetings (AGM/EGM) and committee meetings.
  • Keeps order — runs the agenda, keeps discussion on-topic and civil, and manages time.
  • Puts motions to the vote — ensures each item is properly considered and decided.

Not a casting boss

A common misconception is that the chair “runs the scheme.” They run the meeting. Decisions are made by the owners corporation or the committee by vote; the chair facilitates that process fairly. (On how power is actually split, see owners corporation vs strata committee.)

Does the chair get a casting vote?

This one is genuinely unsettled — it’s treated inconsistently across schemes and even practitioners differ, so the safe course is to be cautious. The conservative, widely-accepted reading: assume the chairperson does not have a casting (second) vote — so a tied motion is simply not carried — unless the scheme’s by-laws expressly grant one. Relying on a casting vote that may not exist is exactly the kind of thing that gets a decision challenged later, so if a vote ties, the cautious course is to treat the motion as lost rather than let the chair break it.

Chairing made straightforward

A well-run meeting starts with a correct agenda and notice, and ends with clean minutes — the parts around the meeting, not just the hour itself. A system such as Straita builds the agenda and notice timeline and captures the outcomes, so the chair can focus on running the room while the paperwork takes care of itself.

Primary sources