How do you run an owners corporation AGM in Victoria?

If you sit on a self-managed owners corporation committee in Melbourne or regional Victoria, the annual general meeting (AGM) is the rhythm that keeps the scheme lawful, funded, and accountable. It is where owners see the money story, approve the next year’s budget, elect the committee, and air the issues that do not fit neatly into email threads.

This guide explains how Victorian AGMs work in plain language, with links to Consumer Affairs Victoria guidance and the Owners Corporations Act 2006. It is general information only — not legal advice. When a decision has big dollars or legal risk attached, confirm the current Act, your plan of subdivision, and your registered rules with a qualified adviser.

For a wider Victorian checklist — tiers, levies, records, and dispute pathways — start with our self-managed strata guide for Victoria.

When must a Victorian owners corporation hold an AGM?

Under Victorian law, your owners corporation must hold an AGM if it receives or pays out money during the financial year. That is the trigger many small schemes underestimate: even modest admin costs, insurance, or gardener invoices can mean you need a formal meeting cycle.

CAV explains on its annual general meeting page that the gap between AGMs must not exceed 15 months. Missing that window does not just look untidy — it makes it harder to defend fee decisions, insurance renewals, and committee appointments if owners later disagree.

Schemes that have gone quiet after developer handover sometimes need a first or reactivation AGM. CAV’s activating your owners corporation page lists the business owners commonly cover when waking a corporation up, from insurance and bank accounts to budgets and dispute rules.

What the AGM is for

Think of the AGM as the owners’ boardroom day. CAV’s annual general meeting overview says the meeting must cover income and expenditure for the past financial year, assets and liabilities, maintenance works and any maintenance plan, committee and manager reports, complaints, and emerging issues.

Practically, that means your AGM pack should tell a coherent story: what you spent, what you still owe contractors, what broke this year, what is likely to break next year, and what you are asking owners to approve for the year ahead.

The same CAV page notes the AGM is used to appoint a committee, consider a maintenance program, and adopt a budget for the next financial year. If your scheme also needs to decide a special project — a facade repair, lift modernisation, or EV charging rollout — consider whether that belongs on the AGM agenda or needs a separate general meeting so the AGM does not become an eight-hour marathon.

Notice, agenda, and the papers owners must receive

Victorian AGMs need written notice to every lot owner at least 14 days before the meeting. CAV recommends allowing extra time if you post hard copies. Notice can be emailed or sent by other electronic means if your rules and owner contact details support it.

The notice must include the date, time and location (or online access details), the agenda, the text of any special or unanimous resolutions, financial statements, the proposed annual budget, other reports going to the meeting, minutes of the previous AGM, and a statement that owners may appoint a proxy.

CAV publishes Word templates for the notice and agenda on its annual general meeting page. Using the approved forms reduces arguments about whether owners received a valid pack — especially when someone later challenges a fee or a maintenance special levy.

Your proposed budget should line up with how you plan to split owners corporation fees across lots. If you use lot liability on the plan of subdivision, the budget narrative should explain any big shifts — insurance premium jumps, essential safety measures, or increased gardening on shared courtyards.

Chairing, proxies, and keeping order

The chairperson chairs the AGM. If they are absent, owners may elect another owner or the manager to chair. CAV notes that any decision to have someone assist the chair should be recorded in the minutes.

Proxies must be in writing on the approved form and delivered to the secretary. Coercing owners to hand over proxies is illegal. For busy Melbourne investor owners, proxies are normal; for owner-occupiers, encourage attendance so decisions reflect people who live with the outcomes.

Arrears affect voting on ordinary resolutions: owners who owe fees to the corporation may lose their vote on ordinary business but can still vote on matters requiring a special or unanimous resolution. Payment by non-cash methods may need to clear before the meeting — check CAV’s running meetings guidance and your financial records early in AGM prep.

Committee elections and delegations

Owners corporations with 13 or more lots must elect a committee at each AGM. Smaller corporations may choose to elect one but it is optional. Tier rules also affect committee obligations — see our guide to owners corporation tiers in Victoria for how size changes reporting and maintenance duties.

CAV’s tiers of owners corporations page explains committee size limits and the good-faith duties committee members owe. Minutes should record the handover from outgoing to incoming committee clearly.

AGMs are also the right place to review delegations — what the committee, chair, secretary, or manager may decide without calling another general meeting. CAV’s running meetings page includes an instrument of delegation template. Self-managed committees that delegate too much, or too little, both create risk: either decisions stall, or owners complain they never got a say.

Financial statements, insurance, and maintenance reporting

Financial statements should summarise transactions for the year — income, expenditure, assets, liabilities, and any penalty interest charged on overdue fees. Whether you must audit depends on tier and owner decisions at the AGM; CAV’s financial management page distinguishes prescribed corporations from others.

Insurance belongs on the agenda every year even when the broker handles renewal. Cross-check policy summaries against CAV’s insurance minimums and our Victorian OC insurance explainer. Owners should see sum insured, excess, and major exclusions in plain English.

If your scheme has a maintenance plan, CAV expects reporting on implementation at the AGM. Our maintenance plan guide walks through the ten-year view and how it feeds the budget you are asking owners to approve today.

Minutes, records, and follow-through

The secretary must keep minutes that include date, time, location, attendees, proxies, the text of resolutions, and voting outcomes — see CAV’s records page for retention expectations.

Minutes are not a creative writing exercise. They should match what was moved, seconded, and resolved. Attach reports as appendices rather than paraphrasing contractor advice into something owners might rely on as engineering fact.

Within a week of the AGM, publish minutes and action items to owners. Track tasks — insurance certificate upload, bank signatory changes, contractor appointments — the same way you track maintenance: owner-visible progress beats vague promises.

A practical Melbourne committee timeline

Eight weeks out: confirm financial year end, chase outstanding invoices, book auditor if required, and draft the maintenance review. Six weeks out: committee workshop on budget lines, insurance renewal, and any rule changes. Four weeks out: finalise motions and proxy forms.

At fourteen days: send the full AGM pack. In the meeting: stick to the agenda; park detailed engineering debates to a working group if needed. After the meeting: lodge any manager appointments, update the owner register, and load approved budgets into your levy schedule.

Use our owners corporation fee calculator to sense-check per-lot impacts before owners open the pack — surprises in the carpark after the meeting are avoidable.

Where disputes fit

If complaints dominated the year, the AGM reports should reflect how the corporation handled them under its internal process. Our disputes guide explains CAV’s three-step pathway before VCAT.

Running the AGM with less volunteer burnout

Self-managed does not mean improvising. StrataBody helps Victorian committees prepare agendas, attach financial and insurance documents, record motions and votes, and publish minutes to the owner portal — the same records you will need for certificates and handover later.

Launch pricing for committees ready to modernise: $29/mo Essentials or $45/mo Pro, locked in for life for the first 50 paid schemes. Standard price: $49/$69. No GST. See pricing for plan features and lot-band estimates.