Estimated cost calculator introduced amid crackdown on retirement village sector

Prospective residents of retirement villages will be able to calculate the estimated costs of moving into a village before signing a contract, with the launch of a new online calculator by NSW Fair Trading on Tuesday.

Minister for Better Regulation Matt Kean said the online calculator would allow residents to “compare village prices and ultimately ensure they’re not getting ripped off by unscrupulous operators”.

Read Lucy’s article HERE.

Access the Retirement Village Calculators HERE

Following up on his earlier announcement, the Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation, Matt Kean and the Minister for Ageing, Tanya Davies, have issued a joint media release on retirement village reforms.

“The NSW Government is putting power back in the hands of retirement village residents under a new package of reforms announced today.”

The package includes a four point plan which includes an inquiry that will make sure residents have the protection they deserve.

Minister Kean said “Kathryn Greiner AO will head the (an) inquiry, which will examine all registered retirement villages across NSW, and their compliance with the Retirement Villages Act 1999.”

To download a PDF of the Media Release – Click HERE

To view the Media Release online – Click HERE

Adele Ferguson continues her series of articles on the current state of the retirement village industry in the Sydney Morning Herald.

In December 2014, months after he stepped down as Premier of NSW, Barry O’Farrell wrote to a group of residents at a retirement village telling them he “remained of the view that a parliamentary inquiry was required” into the multi-billion dollar retirement village sector.

He said a parliamentary inquiry was the best vehicle to investigate the sector as it would be public, involve MPs from various parties, under the Parliament’s rules, and its recommendations would have to be publicly responded to by the government within three months.

“I regret that largely due to the winding up of the parliament’s sittings I have been unable to secure such an inquiry,” he said.

Fast forward to now and almost 2000 residents of retirement villages in NSW signed a petition calling for an industry ombudsman and other reforms. So far this has fallen on deaf ears

The ACCC, for its part, has launched an inquiry that it says will look at some of the more serious allegations being raised, including whether contracts are unfair and unconscionable.

Gerard Brody, the chief executive of Consumer Action Law Centre, recently said the retirement living contracts were some of the worst contracts he had seen across many different industries – even worse than complex financial services.

Read Adele’s full article HERE.

Living with Dementia in Retirement Villages.

Alzheimer’s Australia NSW Discussion Paper 13, August 2015. – Miskovski, K., Chenoweth, L. & Moore, B. (2015)

“The retirement living sector is a successful model industry, providing a range of care options to facilitate ageing in place.”

How well do retirement villages facilitate ageing in place for residents living with dementia?

This discussion paper reports the findings of exploratory research which aimed to investigate the extent to which people with dementia are supported in retirement villages and identify improvements to ensure that retirement village residents with dementia are able to age in place.

To access this document please click Alzheimer’s Australia (NSW)

Subsequent to consideration of the discussion paper. Alzheimer’s Australia (NSW) then produced the Dementia Guide for the Australian Retirement Village Industry which residents and their their extended family may also find interesting.