"Living in a retirement village has the capacity to be a great lifestyle decision, sadly it also has the capacity to be your very worst financial decision." - RETVILLDOTNET.
An example for a village with the Deferred Management Fee calculated on the ingoing $$$.

"My father must have been one of the few people who lost money when he sold his home in a booming Melbourne property market. This huge loss on his home, in a popular suburb not far from the CBD, was despite it selling for more than he paid for it. The problem? He bought into a retirement village." - Diana Thorp. Sunday Herald Sun. 22/08/21
An example for a village with the Deferred Management Fee calculated on the outgoing $$$.

Saturday 4 February 2023

National Ombudsman Recommended for Retirement Villages

The Australian Urban Research Institute has recommended a National Ombudsman for Retirement Villages. 

Retirement Villages in Australia operate under varying laws of the State Governments, this as opposed to aged care facilities that operate under Commonwealth laws. 

AURI published a report on the industry in December 2022, the primary recommendations of the report were - 

  • A national ombudsman
  • More affordable housing solutions
  • Greater transparency
  • Better standards of service
  • Accessible building standards
  • Ethical and impartial dispute resolution processes
  • Regulation of the financial management processes
  • Repositioning of retirement village contracts as a financial product
The AURI report titled Business models, consumer experiences and regulation of retirement villages can be found via this link - https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/392 




Function of Government

The role of government is to create an environment for commerce to function whilst at the same time protecting retirees and particularly vulnerable retirees from both financial and emotional harm emanating from that function.

The Victorian Retirement Villages Act 1986 provides the environment for commerce to function but fails to fully protect retirees from financial and emotional harm as a result of it.

The Victorian legislative definition of a retirement village in demanding the payment of an 'in-going' amount without the transfer of property ownership is a major contributor to that financial and emotional harm suffered by retirees.


retvill.net

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