Strata Committee Meeting Minutes: What Must Be Recorded

Why minutes matter more than people think

Minutes aren't just a courtesy record — in most states they're the primary evidence of what a committee actually decided. If a dispute ends up in front of a tribunal such as NCAT, VCAT or QCAT, or a new committee needs to understand why a decision was made, the minutes are what gets read. Vague, late or inconsistent minutes create real risk.

What every set of minutes should include

Meeting details

• Scheme name and address
• Date, time and location (or that it was held virtually)
• Meeting type (committee meeting, AGM, EGM)

Attendance

• Committee members present
• Apologies received
• Any others in attendance (manager, contractor, invited owner) and in what capacity

Motions, word for word

The biggest mistake in strata minutes is paraphrasing motions. Record the exact wording that was put to the vote, not a summary of the discussion. If the wording changed from what was on the agenda, note the amendment before recording the vote.

The vote and result

For each motion, record:

• Proposer and seconder, if your process requires this
• The vote count or show of hands
• Whether it was carried, lost, or carried with dissent
• Whether it needed to be an ordinary, special or unanimous resolution, and whether that threshold was met

Action items

Every action arising from the meeting should have an owner and a date — not just "committee to follow up." Vague actions are the reason the same item reappears on every agenda for a year.

Next meeting

Note the date if set, or how it will be confirmed.

A simple minutes structure to copy

1. Meeting opened — time, chair, quorum confirmed
2. Apologies
3. Confirmation of previous minutes
4. Business arising from previous minutes
5. Reports (manager, treasurer, maintenance)
6. Motions, in agenda order, with wording and result
7. General business
8. Action items summary
9. Meeting closed — time

How long to keep minutes

Strata records, including minutes, are typically required to be kept for a minimum period set by state legislation, and in practice most committees keep them indefinitely because they're cheap to store and expensive to lose. A new committee should be able to look back several years without chasing a departed secretary for a box of paper.

Distributing minutes

Minutes should go to the full committee promptly, and depending on your state and by-laws, a summary or the full minutes may also need to be available to owners on request. Waiting weeks erodes trust and makes it harder to remember exactly what was agreed.

Common minute-taking mistakes

• Writing what was discussed instead of what was resolved
• Missing the exact wording of amended motions
• Recording "the committee agreed" without a formal motion and vote
• No owner or date attached to action items
• Minutes only existing on one person's laptop

Where Flex Strata helps

Flex Strata's meetings tool lets you build the agenda in advance, record motions as they're put — including amendments — capture the vote result against the correct resolution type, and turn action items straight into tracked items with an owner and a due date on the maintenance board or action items list. Minutes can be finished at the end of the meeting instead of reconstructed from someone's notebook two weeks later, and they stay attached to the meeting record for the next committee to find.

A quick checklist before you send minutes out

• Does every motion show the exact wording voted on?
• Is the result recorded clearly, including the resolution type?
• Does every action item have an owner and a date?
• Have proxies been recorded against the correct lot, where relevant?
• Has the draft been reviewed by the chair before distribution?