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ACT legislative changes

  • February 01, 2017

ACT legislative changes

Retirement Villages Amendment Act 2016 is now in force in the ACT (as of 16 December 2016), following a review of the current Act conducted with the assistance of a review advisory group, where the Property Council, ACT Retirement Village Residents Association and other major stakeholders were represented.

Some of the main changes included in this Amendment Act include:

  • Operators are now required to expressly include in the Disclosure Statement that a former occupant of a unit is not liable to refurbish the unit;
  • Operators can enter into more binding holding deposit arrangements with prospective residents, and may retain the reasonable costs incurred from leaving the unit empty if a propsective resident decides not to move;
  • A requirement to give at least 60 days notice to a resident of any proposed change to recurrent charges, and removal of CPI as a measure for increases;
  • Introduction of an internal dispute resolution process for residents, including responsibility for setting up a disputes committee for operator-resident disputes (with one member appointed by the residents, one member appointed by the operator and a mutually agreed chair);
  • Ability for an operator to market a new village which development approval has not yet been obtained (although no contract can be entered into until approval has been obtained);
  • An update to the general enquiry document to include a statement explaining the difference between a retirement village and a residential aged care facility.

The full details about the Amendment Act can be found here, and additional resources can be viewed at the Access Canberra website.

The ACT Government has indicated its intention for the review advisory group to continue to meet in 2017 to discuss the implementation of the Act and any other ongoing issues. The Property Council looks forward to continuing to work with the ACT RVRA and other stakeholders, with previous meetings proving very productive.

If you need further information, please contact the Property Council’s ACT Division on 02 6248 6902 or [email protected].