1 October 2024
The RVRA has responded to the ABC TV’s 7.30 Report on Monday 30 September 2024, which depicted retirement villages as being a nightmare of trapped residents and misleading practices.
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T: 1300 787 213 | E: admin@rvra.org.au | W: https://www.rvra.org.au
PO Box 3349 Asquith NSW 2077
On Monday 30 September 2024 the ABC TV’s 7.30 Report depicted retirement villages as being a
nightmare of trapped residents and misleading practices.
To say that I am disheartened by the focus of this program is an understatement. Yes there are issues
within the industry and there is always room for improvement, but we need to remember that the issues
and harrowing personal stories highlighted in the program aren’t happening everywhere and are not
generally reflective of life in NSW villages. Community living is not for everyone, and to opt for a
retirement village is not a financial investment choice – it is lifestyle (security, safety, less maintenance
responsibility etc)– and we believe that the majority of RV residents are happy with their choice.
Since the Greiner Report recommendations of 2017 were accepted by the then NSW Government, the
RVRA and the NSW Department of Fair Trading have been addressing the issues with the operator peak
body (the Property Council) with the aim of stamping out the bad practices and providing a safer, more
secure and better regulated way of life in the sector. Retirement Village legislation in NSW now provides
protections for village residents that are not available to residents in all states - for example the capping
of recurrent charges after 42 days.
More recently, by way of the RVRA Education Centre, we have been focusing on the advice for, and
training of, village managers and resident committees to equip them to better deal with the issues that
face an ageing population.
We mustn’t forget the underlying premise for the growth of the retirement village business model – that
it provides a resource of “affordable living”. In entering into the contract for a retirement village, we all
would – or should – have been advised that it is principally a lifestyle choice – not principally a financial
investment. Unfortunately we cannot force people to read their contracts and get proper legal advice
before signing up and we continue to encourage family members to also get involved in the transaction
before it is entered into. Yes- the contracts are becoming more and more complex but we and the Property
Council are fighting to reduce complexity.
RVRA Board members – all volunteers and all living in retirement villages - deal with over 600 issues per
year in calls from members. These issues run from management practices to budgets and finance, to
problems with residents and Resident Committees. While this is a significant number of issues, we believe
that it in no way can be seen as representative of the lives of some 70,000 residents in retirement villages
in NSW.
So it is disturbing that the ABC program saw fit to use part of the RVRA’s Ageing Without Fear report to
counter the industry’s claim about the benefits of living in retirement communities. The reality is that 40%
of the small sample of people who responded to the survey had been exposed to some form of
psychological abuse; that is intimidation, bullying, etc., not financial, or any of the other forms of abuse.
That sample represented 1.8% of the number of people living in retirement villages, hardly a
representative picture of all villages. Also it should be noted that the survey was only conducted in NSW
and that a majority of abuses (apart from patronisation) arose by resident on resident. Since that Report
PO Box 3349 Asquith NSW 2077
On Monday 30 September 2024 the ABC TV’s 7.30 Report depicted retirement villages as being a
nightmare of trapped residents and misleading practices.
To say that I am disheartened by the focus of this program is an understatement. Yes there are issues
within the industry and there is always room for improvement, but we need to remember that the issues
and harrowing personal stories highlighted in the program aren’t happening everywhere and are not
generally reflective of life in NSW villages. Community living is not for everyone, and to opt for a
retirement village is not a financial investment choice – it is lifestyle (security, safety, less maintenance
responsibility etc)– and we believe that the majority of RV residents are happy with their choice.
Since the Greiner Report recommendations of 2017 were accepted by the then NSW Government, the
RVRA and the NSW Department of Fair Trading have been addressing the issues with the operator peak
body (the Property Council) with the aim of stamping out the bad practices and providing a safer, more
secure and better regulated way of life in the sector. Retirement Village legislation in NSW now provides
protections for village residents that are not available to residents in all states - for example the capping
of recurrent charges after 42 days.
More recently, by way of the RVRA Education Centre, we have been focusing on the advice for, and
training of, village managers and resident committees to equip them to better deal with the issues that
face an ageing population.
We mustn’t forget the underlying premise for the growth of the retirement village business model – that
it provides a resource of “affordable living”. In entering into the contract for a retirement village, we all
would – or should – have been advised that it is principally a lifestyle choice – not principally a financial
investment. Unfortunately we cannot force people to read their contracts and get proper legal advice
before signing up and we continue to encourage family members to also get involved in the transaction
before it is entered into. Yes- the contracts are becoming more and more complex but we and the Property
Council are fighting to reduce complexity.
RVRA Board members – all volunteers and all living in retirement villages - deal with over 600 issues per
year in calls from members. These issues run from management practices to budgets and finance, to
problems with residents and Resident Committees. While this is a significant number of issues, we believe
that it in no way can be seen as representative of the lives of some 70,000 residents in retirement villages
in NSW.
So it is disturbing that the ABC program saw fit to use part of the RVRA’s Ageing Without Fear report to
counter the industry’s claim about the benefits of living in retirement communities. The reality is that 40%
of the small sample of people who responded to the survey had been exposed to some form of
psychological abuse; that is intimidation, bullying, etc., not financial, or any of the other forms of abuse.
That sample represented 1.8% of the number of people living in retirement villages, hardly a
representative picture of all villages. Also it should be noted that the survey was only conducted in NSW
and that a majority of abuses (apart from patronisation) arose by resident on resident. Since that Report
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