Retirement villages
In our experience, Retirement Village contracts can be extremely complex and contract terms around fees and exit entitlements can lack transparency. Different types of retirement accommodation can also be regulated by different pieces of legislation depending on how they are structured, which can add to the confusion for residents.
In our view, this complexity limits the ability of residents to understand their rights and obligations under their contract and makes it difficult for people to shop around and compare different options when they are thinking about moving into retirement accommodation. There is also a lack of specialist legal advice available on this topic, particularly for people on low incomes.
We welcome the reforms introduced by the Victorian Government in 2012 to improve contracts and disclosure in Retirement Villages and its work to develop best practice dispute resolution but we believe more will need to be done.
Retirement village survey
Residents of Retirement Villages Victoria (RRVV) Inc are conducting a survey of residents regarding their experiences with managers and owners of the villages in which they reside. The survey is anonymous, and should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. If you are interested in participating in the survey, please click here.
More information
- Consumer Affairs Victoria has a range of information for people who are residents of retirement villages or are thinking of becoming a resident available here. See
- Consumer Affairs Victoria can also help resolve disputes between residents and operators of retirement village and residential parks. Click here for details on how to contact Consumer Affairs.
- Other sources of consumer information are:
Relevant links:
Consumer Action August 2015 Briefing
