Quorum

A quorum is the minimum number of either members or directors (depending on the type of meeting) that must be present for the business of a meeting to be carried out. 

You need a quorum present to start the business of a meeting and to keep it going. 

Meetings for members and meetings for directors need to have a quorum for the meeting and its decisions to be valid.

How many members to have quorum for a general meeting

The CATSI Act specifies the numbers required for a quorum for a general meeting but a corporation can change this in their rule book. 

To work out if you have a quorum

Count each member, and if the corporation’s rule book allows proxies, count each person who is there as a proxy but:

• If a member appoints more than one proxy, count only one of them.
• If a person is attending both as a member and as a proxy for another member, only count that person once.
• If the member who appointed a proxy also shows up, don’t count their proxy.

Read about what to do if a meeting does not have quorum on AGM problems and solutions

Number of directors to have quorum for a directors’ meeting

The CATSI Act says that a quorum for a directors’ meeting is a majority of the directors. But check the corporation’s rule book to see if this rule has been changed. For example, a corporation that represents different groups of native title holders where each group nominates their director/s might add an extra rule for a quorum that requires a minimum number of directors from each group to be present.