WA review launched

The Western Australian Government has officially commenced its ‘second-stage review’ of the state’s Retirement Villages Act with the release of a discussion paper for public comment.

The paper’s focus is “the definition of a retirement village product; how it is advertised and promoted; and how consumers understand the pricing structure”. Read the discussion paper here. 

The remaining discussion papers, to be released throughout 2019-2020 will cover: 

• Operator management responsibilities to the village community including clarifying issues such as the owner/operator dichotomy, payment of exit entitlements, capital works, approval of budgets and refurbishment obligations;
• Clarifying the scope of the RV Act including issues such as application to short-term residents, residents’ relatives and partners, aged care facilities on retirement village land and the need for a public database of retirement villages;
• Multi-site villages, scheme termination, memorials and the statutory charge including clarifying current uncertainty about the regulation of multi-site villages, the memorial requirements of the RV Act, statutory charge provisions and the process for terminating a retirement village scheme;
• New village developments (staged developments and redevelopments) leasing off the plan, and multiple residence contracts including issues relating to wait list and holding fees, staged developments and redevelopment and processes for land to be excisable from village land;
• Compliance and enforcement including issues such as whether the head of power for the Fair Trading (Retirement Villages Interim Code) Regulations 2019 should move from the Fair Trading Act 2010 to the RV Act, what enforcement tools the Act should contain and the State Administrative Tribunals jurisdiction

The Property Council will coordinate a response on behalf of the industry in Western Australia by the scheduled deadline of 27 September. The Property Council’s Western Australian Executive Director, Sandra Brewer, put the case forward for the vast majority of happy and satisfied retirement village residents in The West Australian.

If you wish to contribute to our advocacy in Western Australia, please email us at [email protected]