Allan government’s retirement village rules risk ‘real harm’ to older Victorians
A key aspect of the changes is making the paperwork simpler and clearer so that retirees better understand what they are signing up for.
The Victorian government has been widely criticized for rolling out “outlandish” changes to the state’s retirement villages in decades as it works to make retirement life better.
The long-awaited details of the reform laws were released by the government today.
Key changes implemented in the Retirement Homes Act include mandatory condition reports completed before residents move in, a seven-day contract cooling-off period, a ban on undisclosed fees and expenses, and requirements for resident shares of capital gains similar to those for property losses and simple contracts.
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Scheduled to become law from May 1, industry groups are concerned that a 200-page amendment to the law issued today requiring changes to the contracts of people entering the villages will risk “real harm” to future residents as operators try to meet the “absurdity” of the 39-day change.
A war of words continues between Consumer Affairs Minister Nick Staikos and the country’s biggest retirement industry group, the Retirement Living Council – which yesterday said many of the changes “reach where most of the market has moved”, but warned there was not enough time to implement contracts.
A late draft of the reform laws released by Consumer Affair also promised to clarify which companies and residents are responsible for maintenance and replacement, definitions of wear and tear, and requirements for emergency planning and safety inspections.
![PRIME MINISTER JACINTA ALLAN](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The Allan government’s changes to the Retirement Village Act have been supported, but the timeline for implementing them has been overlooked. Photo: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw
Retirement villages will also have to use a standard form contract, while operators will be barred from restricting the keeping of pets in homes.
Residents will no longer need to request permission to add fly screens or window curtains, picture hooks, shelves and security systems that do not interfere with the privacy of other residents.
The changes will affect 513 retirement villages across the state, which currently have about 36,000 residents, but rental retirement communities are not included – and are covered under the Residence Tenancies Act.
Consumer Affairs Minister Nick Staikos said this is the most significant change to the Retirement Housing Act in decades.
“We have worked closely with industry to bring safeguards that will make life easier, fairer and more accessible to residents,” said Mr Staikos.
“Victorians in retirement villages now have the peace of mind that their contracts are fair and transparent and can focus on enjoying their retirement.”
RLC executive director Daniel Gannon said that although the industry supported the intention of the changes, they were not happy that the rule book had arrived at the last minute.
Retirement Living Council director Daniel Gannon believes the time left to implement reforms is very short. Photo: Jeremy Piper.
“Given this small amount of time in the wrong way, this ill-advised reform process risks real harm, including the displacement of older Victorians,” Mr Gannon said.
“More transparency, clarity and certainty are worthy goals for residents, investors and workers alike, but a change of this scale needs to be properly planned and executed – not rushed under the pressure of the past.”
He added that they will now apply the law in detail in an effort to ensure that rural residents are not left facing uncertainty – and noted that in many cases the law is like “just finding out when the majority of the market has already moved”.
“For most users, the changes themselves won’t be a problem – the problem is the time frame for implementation,” he said.
“Setting an implementation window of 38 business days for changes to this issue makes no sense. It prioritizes speed over clarity, and in doing so increases the risk of confusion for residents and avoidable mistakes across the board.
“The RLC will not protect bad practice or operators who fail to fulfill their obligations to residents. We support greater transparency, certainty and transparency for residents, operators and investors – those goals are right.”
Victorian Consumer Affairs Minister Nick Staikos says he refuses to bow to “compelling interest” in making the changes. Photo: NewsWire / Diego Fedele.
Last week, Mr Gannon made a speech criticizing the government for the delay in providing details of the reforms at the RLC’s Outlook event.
Mr Staikos had already spoken at the same event, without specifying when details of the changes would be released, and then hinted at an industry group’s response speech shortly afterwards.
A subsequent post on social media included comments from him that he believed Victorians were being treated “very, very badly” by retired state workers and he would not agree to a “strong interest” in providing the requested delay to the May 1 start date.
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