Corporations Act 2001

Members of a registered scheme with at least 5% of the votes that may be cast at a meeting of the scheme’s members may request the responsible entity of the scheme to appoint an independent person to:

scrutinise the outcome of a poll at the meeting; and

prepare a report on the outcome of the poll.

The request must:

be in writing; and

identify the poll to which it relates; and

be made no later than 5 business days after the day the meeting is held.

To avoid doubt, the request may be made before the meeting is held.

A responsible entity of a registered scheme commits an offence if:

the responsible entity receives a request under subsection (1); and

the responsible entity fails to take reasonable steps to:

ensure that an independent person scrutinises the outcome of the poll to which the request relates; and

ensure that the independent person prepares a report on the outcome of the poll; and

ensure that a copy of the report is made readily available to the members of the scheme within a reasonable time after the request is received.

An offence based on subsection (4) is an offence of strict liability.

A responsible entity of a registered scheme that appoints an independent person for the purposes of this section is liable to pay the independent person’s fees.

To avoid doubt, an independent person appointed for the purposes of this section may be an auditor or a registry service provider (including an auditor or a registry service provider of the registered scheme concerned), unless the relevant poll concerns an issue or a matter relating to the person.

To avoid doubt, if the same independent person is appointed under section 253UD and this section in relation to a poll, the reports on the conduct and outcome of the poll may be included in a single report.