Strata Proxy Limits — How Many Proxies Can One Person Hold?

You don’t have to sit through many strata meetings before you see how proxies can shift the room.

Sometimes it’s harmless — an owner helping out a neighbour who couldn’t attend. Other times, you’ve got one person holding a stack of proxies thick enough to decide the outcome before the meeting even starts.

That’s exactly why proxy limits exist. Not to stop participation, but to stop control concentrating in the wrong place.

The catch? The rules aren’t consistent across Australia. And if you apply the wrong one, you can end up with decisions that don’t stand up later.

NSW proxy limits

NSW is probably the most straightforward — and also one of the strictest in practice.

Under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, the cap depends on how big the scheme is:

So, in a 60-lot building, you’re looking at a maximum of 3 proxies. In a 200-lot scheme, it’s 10.

Simple enough on paper. Where it gets messy is in the room — people don’t always do the maths, and chairs don’t always check.

You can go straight to the legislation here:
https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2015-050

QLD proxy limits

Queensland takes a tighter line.

For most schemes operating under the standard regulation modules, a person can usually hold only 1 proxy.

That surprises a lot of people, especially those used to NSW-style percentage limits.

There are also a few practical restrictions that catch people out:

So even where a proxy exists, it’s not always usable in the way people expect.

The legislation sits here:
https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1997-028

VIC proxy limits

Victoria sits somewhere in the middle.

The Owners Corporations Act 2006 applies a 5% cap, similar to NSW for larger schemes.

In practical terms:

What tends to matter more in Victoria isn’t just the number — it’s how the proxy is written.

If the form is unclear, overly broad, or not properly executed, it can be challenged. And in tighter votes, that’s exactly what happens.

Legislation here:
https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/acts/owners-corporations-act-2006

WA proxy limits

WA is less rigid, which sounds easier — but often isn’t.

The Strata Titles Act 1985 allows proxies, but doesn’t set a clean, universal cap like NSW or Victoria. Instead, you need to look at:

Some schemes introduce their own limits. Others don’t. So you can’t assume anything without checking first.

That’s where people get caught — applying a “standard rule” that doesn’t actually exist in WA.

Legislation is here:
https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/main_mrtitle_913_homepage.html

Why this actually matters

On paper, proxy limits look like a technical rule.

In practice, they go straight to whether a decision is defensible.

If one person turns up holding more proxies than they’re allowed, and those votes are counted, you’ve got a problem. Not a theoretical one — a real one that can unwind decisions weeks or months later.

And it doesn’t take much. In a close vote, one or two extra proxies can change the outcome entirely.

What happens when the limit is exceeded?

In a properly run meeting, those excess proxies simply shouldn’t be counted.

But that relies on someone picking it up at the time.

If they’re missed and included in the vote, you’re into dispute territory. Depending on the state, that might mean:

And by that point, the cost and friction usually outweigh whatever the motion was about in the first place.

Where things usually go wrong

It’s rarely deliberate.

More often, it’s small gaps that add up:

How Vero Voting handles it in practice

This is one of those areas where manual processes struggle.

With Vero Voting, proxy handling is built into the workflow:

It removes a lot of the uncertainty — and just as importantly, it removes the pressure from the chair on the day.

Final word

Proxy limits aren’t complicated, but they are easy to get wrong.

And when they’re wrong, the consequences tend to show up after the meeting — when fixing them is far harder.

If you’re dealing with strata meetings regularly and want to be confident your proxy handling will hold up under scrutiny, it’s worth tightening the process.

If you’d like to see how we approach it in real terms, feel free to reach out.