Body Corporate and Community Management (Standard Module) Regulation 2020 (Standard Module)

COMMITTEE ELECTION - whether too many nominations were accepted from a single owner; whether the election must be held again to correct the anomaly.

Standard Module, s 17(1)-(2).

Within six weeks, the body corporate must hold a general meeting to conduct a fresh committee election. Owners must be given at least two weeks to submit nominations. Nominations exceeding the limits at section 17(2) of the Standard Module must not be accepted.

• [1] The applicant says the committee election at the 21 May 2025 annual general meeting was invalid because:
  1. Ms Menso nominated too many candidates
  2. owners elected candidates by voting on motions rather than by participating in a ballot, and
  3. two more ordinary members ought to have been elected.
• [2] The applicant seeks orders in the following terms:

• A declaration that the appointment of the committee members at the AGM held on 21 May 2025 is invalid due to non-compliant and excessive nominations submitted by Ms. Susan Menso.

• An order that a new election be conducted in accordance with the Body Corporate and Community Management (Standard Module) Regulation 2020, based solely on valid nominations.

• [3] The owner of a single lot can nominate one person for election to the committee. Owners with two lots can nominate two people if the scheme has fewer than seven lots, and owners with more than two lots can nominate three people if the scheme has seven or more lots.[1]
• [4] According to Highpoint Units' body corporate manager, five nominations were received for the 2025-26 committee from lots 2, 6, 7, 10, and 14.[2] Titles Registry records indicate:
  1. lots 2, 6, and 7 are co-owned by JLP 1 PTY LTD A.C.N. 656 090 550 and MJP 1 PTY LTD A.C.N. 656 090 505
  2. lot 10 is owned by Menso Investments Pty Ltd A.C.N. 118 365 861, and
  3. lot 14 is owned by JLP 1 PTY LTD A.C.N. 656 090 550 alone.
• [5] JLP 1 PTY LTD and MJP 1 PTY LTD are different business names for the same company. They have the same Australian Company Number. That entity owns lots 2, 6, 7, and 14. As the owner of more than two lots at a scheme with 22 lots in total, that company was permitted to nominate a maximum of three people to the committee, not four.
• [6] I have no information about which four committee members were nominated by A.C.N. 656 090 550, nor who would have been excluded if there had only been three. The committee election must be held again to correct the error.
• [7] I will order the body corporate to hold a general meeting within six weeks to conduct a fresh committee election. Owners must be given at least two weeks to submit nominations. Nominations exceeding the limits at section 17(2) of the Standard Module must not be accepted.
• [8] As stated in the interim order:

[5] The applicant has submitted no evidence to support the claim that the committee election was conducted by voting on motions rather than by holding a ballot. The scheme's body corporate manager denied it in an email of 24 June 2025.

[6] The applicant also suggests that the committee should have two more ordinary members, but I do not understand why. I gather that it presently has five members. A committee must have at least three but not more than seven voting members.[3]

• [9] I have received nothing further on these points since then, so I remain unpersuaded by them. The error with the nominations is sufficient to justify the orders sought anyway.
• [10] The present committee may continue to act until the new election is held. As stated at the interim stage, I have no reason to believe that anyone presently serving on the committee is inherently unsuitable or poses some serious risk to the scheme. I would not leave a management gap for up to six weeks before a new committee can be elected.
• [11] The body corporate is free to also consider other business at the general meeting held pursuant to these orders.

[1] Standard Module, s 17(1)-(2).

[2] Nicole Smith, Civium, email to applicant, 24 June 2025.

[3] Standard Module, s 9(4) & schedule 1, "maximum number, of voting members for a committee"; Highpoint Units [2025] QBCCMCmr 229.