retvilldotnet: June 2023

Saturday, 24 June 2023

Retirement Villages = Destruction of Retiree Capital

From Michael West Media -

"New research from retirement village analyst Les Scobie shows the dominant financial model for retirement villages, the loan/lease model, is causing a significant transfer of capital from retirees to retirement village operators. In many cases, elderly Australians would be considerably better off if they just stayed at home".

Read the full article- Retirement Villages : The Destruction of Retiree Capital

Abuse Reported by Over 40% living in Retirement Villages

A report from the NSW Retirement Village Residents Association shows over 40% of people in retirement villages have experienced abuse.

"The Retirement Village Residents Association (RVRA) developed and distributed a survey on psychological abuse to all its members and some 120 retirement villages throughout NSW. The RVRA is not aware of any previous studies of the impact of psychological abuse solely within retirement villages that excluded external triggers such as financial abuse and neglect. Other studies psychological abuse with a broader range of elder abuse topics, and cover the broader senior cohort of aged care, community housing and general over55 living situations.

Over 40% (n=512) of the respondents reported experiencing at least one type of abuse. The proportion of females reporting abuse was higher (44%) than for males (34%). The percentage of the younger age groups in the sample reporting abuse was much higher (48%) when compared with the older groups (28%)."

See the full report here - https://www.rvra.org.au/news/news-articles/2023-06-15

Friday, 2 June 2023

55 Plus Retirement Community Problems Universal

Whilst American this video shows that the general issues with 55+ retirement villages are universal. It does not cover the more serious issues more relevant to a particular village or operator.

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.