New Push - Federal Laws for Retirement Villages

In a new article by Brittany Smeed the case for federal laws for retirement villages is raised again.

"When ABC aired their Four Corners exposé, Bleed Them Dry Until They Die, viewers around
Australia were shocked to learn about the exploitation of vulnerable elderly people by the
retirement village industry. The public outcry and media attention surrounding these issues
quickly led to calls for reform and regulatory action across Australia. While some state and
territory governments have demonstrated a commitment to addressing the issues raised by the
media, we need to reconsider the capacity of state and territory governments to adequately
respond to a problem that clearly exists on a national scale. This article will discuss the
retirement village industry in Australia, consider the shortcomings of state and territory level
regulation, and suggest that further reform needs to be implemented at a federal level to account
for the changing nature of the industry in the context of our ageing population. It is argued that
the federal government would be capable of regulating retirement villages as financial
products, with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (‘ASIC’) and the
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (‘ACCC’) playing a stronger role in
monitoring consumer protection. However this requires a significant shift in the way that
retirement villages are viewed from a legal perspective."

The full article can be downloaded here - https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/1456015/Brittany_Smeed.pdf

Brittany Smeed