Retirement Village reforms CRIS3 released
Weeks before submissions are due to close on CRIS paper 2, Consumer Protection has released the third paper looking at proposed reforms to the WA Retirement Living sector. This restarts the consultation process that began in August last year, which was paused for several months due to the pandemic.
CRIS3 deals with a range of topics including:
- When the Retirement Villages Act 1992 applies
- Identifying what a Retirement Village is
- Retirement Village schemes (residence contracts and village community arrangements)
- Multisite Retirement Villages and single Retirement Village schemes per village
- Definitions of premium, and
- Renting and sub-letting in a Retirement Village
Our Retirement Living Legislation sub-committee is examining the paper, totalling 70 pages in length, to understand the proposals being forward include. Property Council WA-Retirement Living Council continues to work with other peak bodies including LASA, ACSA and the WA Retirement Villages Residents Association in formulating a sector wide approach to the consultation.
In a small win, Consumer Protection advised that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the overall number of CRIS papers expected in the consultation process has been revised down from six to five. Although this is seen as a welcome move that will help the process conclude more efficiently, we will await the detail before providing a response to the issues and proposals contained in the series of papers.
Separately, Property Council WA continues to highlight the obstacles to village redevelopments and the development of new villages through the current planning system. These issues have been raised directly with key decision makers including State Government ministers, as well as senior staff that are working with the State Government on economic recovery measures post-pandemic.
CRIS3 can be viewed here.
We continue to encourage members to provide feedback or queries to our advocacy team on this consultation process. Feedback and queries can be directed to Policy Advisor Nick Warland at [email protected]