As part of its four-point plan to improve retirement village living, the NSW Government has commissioned Kathryn Greiner AO to lead an inquiry into the NSW retirement village sector.

The inquiry will review the protections offered to residents, and ensure that Fair Trading has the necessary powers to make sure retirement village operators are complying with the law.

A copy of the Terms of Reference for the inquiry in PDF format are available HERE

Hot Links to the Inquiry:

Inquiry Information:

Full details of the announcement and ongoing information will be found on the Fair Trading Inquiry webpage.

Visit the Inquiry webpage on the Fair Trading website.

Online Submission Form:

The submission form will take around 30 minutes to complete The questions are optional, you may answer as many or as few questions that you wish.

Make an online submission to the NSW Inquiry into Retirement Villages.

Community Forums:

Residents and members of the community are invited to attend a consultation forum to discuss their concerns at locations across the State. Forums will be held in Sydney, Hornsby, Ballina, Port Macquarie, Newcastle, Wollongong, and Wagga Wagga during October 2017. Don’t delay – do it today!

Register for your free seat to a community forum here.

Select Retirement Village Inquiry Community Forum
in the Search by topic drop down list

“The Retirement Villages Regulation 2017 replaces the Retirement Villages Regulation 2009 effective from 1 September 2017 and features numerous changes intended to improve the operation and administration of the Retirement Villages Act.  The Regulation was developed by the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation in conjunction with key stakeholders, including RVRA.

“The key changes are as follows:

• requiring copies of a village’s insurance policy documents be available to residents;
• a new ‘average resident comparison figure’ in the Disclosure Statement to facilitate more effective comparison between villages;
• reducing the maximum amount payable for an operator’s legal and other expenses to $50;
• adding new matters for which village rules can be created, including smoking in communal areas;
• requiring clearer information in annual budgets around head office expenses
• lowering the maximum amount allocated for contingencies to $1
• prohibiting additional matters that cannot be financed by recurrent charges
• simplifying the process for allowing residents to hold office on a residents committee for longer than three years; and
• allowing service of documents by electronic means.

“The full Regulation can be found at:

www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/regulation/2017/485

“RVRA is disappointed that not all of its proposals for change were adopted, but appreciates that those that were are welcome enhancements to the regulatory framework governing retirement living.”

Retirement Village Residents Association (Inc)

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Thursday 28^th September 2017 at 10:00am
At Hornsby RSL Club 4 High Street, Hornsby 2077
The minutes of the 2016 AGM are available HERE

Morning Tea will be provided at 9:30am

To assist with catering and seating, any member who will be attending:
Please RSVP by 21^st September, 2017 in one of the following ways:

Email to:
Post to: The Secretary, RVRA, PO Box 3349 Asquith NSW 2077
Phone: 1300 787 213

Retirement Village Residents Association Inc
Notice of Special Resolution

Notice is given that it is proposed to submit to the annual general meeting of the Association to be held on 28th September 2017 at the Hornsby RSL Club, the following special resolution:

1. That the Association replace its existing constitution with the model constitution prescribed by Clause 11 and Schedule 1 of the Associations Incorporation Regulation 2016, as amended by the
RVRA Management Committee at its meeting on 18th May and 17th August 2017.

2. That the Secretary make the necessary application to the Commissioner for Fair Trading pursuant to section 10 of the Associations Incorporations Act 2009 for registration of the
change to the Association’s constitution.

The RVRA’s existing constitution and the proposed replacement constitution can be examined on the RVRA website at rvra.org.au. Alternatively, copies of these documents can be obtained on request to the Association’s administrative assistant:

by telephone – 1300 787 213 or
by email –

Copy of Existing Constitution

Proposed RVRA Constitution

Ballot Papers & Additional Change

At the RVRA Management Committee meeting on 17th August 2017 an additional change to Clause 7 (Register of Members) of the Proposed RVRA Constitution. Ballot papers specially printed with an individual identification on each one and details of the additional change have been posted to all RVRA Members.

Completed ballot papers MUST be returned to:

The Returning Officer, RVRA, PO Box 3349 Asquith NSW 2077

by the close of Business 20th September 2017.  

VICTORIAN INQUIRY INTO RETIREMENT HOUSING SECTOR

On February 24, 2016, the Legislative Council of the Victorian Parliament agreed to a motion that the Legal and Social Issues Committee inquire into the operation and regulation of the retirement housing sector, with the aim of identifying opportunities for improvement and reform.

The Committee issued the report on its Inquiry on March 7, 2017. The report included 15 recommendations, 13 of which were directed to the Victorian Government.

If a Committee’s report recommends that the Government take particular action, the appropriate Minister must provide the Council with a Government response to the committee’s recommendations within six months of the report being laid before the Council.

The response is well worth a read and will provide food for thought in light of the Greiner Inquiry.

Download a PDF copy of the response HERE