Are (or should be) the resolutions of the SDA General Conference public?

The Seventh Day Adventist General Conference session is not secret, nor is it well published. Formal minutes are only distributed to delegates of the session; this is primarily for practical reasons.

However, there are lots of news sources that cover the proceedings that discuss the high-level decisions that are made. For instance http://2015.gcsession.org/en/news/index.html

you can also find information on sites like https://spectrummagazine.org/article/2015/05/29/how-delegates-are-selected-general-conference-sessions

Regarding becoming a member, this is articulated through the fundamental beliefs. Usually, the General session deals with the business of the church and the protocols of the different offices of the church. Not often effecting lay members beliefs. Recently, however, there has been issues with how women should be accepted into leadership and the ministry credentials they can carry.

There is no secrecy at the session level. However, a board of directors is appointed that runs the organisation between sessions. These minutes are confidential, but cannot make significant changes; These are confidential as they can deal with highly sensitive operational issues that can affect employees. (Think restructures, pay cuts or increases, moral failures and apostates)

As a member, I gain all my information from the websites, both the official ones and the reputable Adventist news publishers. In reality, the General conference session has little impact on my day to day faith, or how the local church operates. There are other downstream organisations that have more influence over these.

I find the premise of this question a little misguided, since the governance (polity) of the Seventh Day Adventist church is based on democratic representation, and therefore resembles the Presbyterian system of church organization. Therefore, it really should be compared to other major Protestant denominations.

Church denominations exist for doctrinal centering, which means members join the church because they share the same fundamental beliefs, but there could be deviations in beliefs even within the church. The Seventh Day Adventist Church is no different, a new member can best understand what the Seventh Day Adventist church is about by reading our 28 fundamental beliefs and getting to know their local church. The general conference has no ability to change local church beliefs through resolutions.

As a member of the Seventh Day Adventist church, I can tell you the developments at the general conference level has no impact on my spiritual beliefs, which I like to think is rooted in the Bible. Even the North American division, which has more direct impact on hiring policies of my local church, cannot change the doctrinal direction of an individual member. For example, recently the North American division voted to recognize women's ordination, which has been very controversial within the church since there is little Biblical support. However, individual members are free to believe what their conscience dictates, and if a female pastor is assigned to a local church, the local church elders must agree.

To sum up, the Seventh Day Adventist church is a protestant church where members are required to support the 28 fundamental beliefs at baptism, but beliefs are dictated by an individual's freedom of conscience. Perhaps the unique aspect about the Seventh Day Adventist Church heritage compared to other protestant churches is that a majority of us believe the writings of Ellen White, a church founder, was inspired because of her testimonies, and the fact that they are not contradictory to the Bible. The Bible is the basis of our faith, therefore the decisions at the general conference are business decisions and has no ability to change the doctrine direction of the local churches.