The Retirement Living Code of Conduct came into full effect on 1 January 2020. What can you learn from leaders already adopting the Code?
The Code of Conduct is an initiative of the Property Council of Australia and Leading Age Services Australia (LASA).
The Code is part of a new, robust quality framework for the operation of retirement communities, along with the new Australian Retirement Village Accreditation Scheme (ARVAS) and impending village manager capability framework.
“With around 2,300 retirement villages across Australia, the Retirement Living Code of Conduct helps our industry to set high standards, promote and protect the interests of residents and deliver exceptional quality of service,” says the Property Council’s executive director of retirement living, Ben Myers.
All Code subscribers gain access to a suite of collateral, including certificates to communicate their compliance to residents and promotion on A Wise Move – a one-stop-shop to help retirees assess their options.
Dr Elizabeth Lanyon has been appointed inaugural chair of the Retirement Living Code of Conduct Review Panel, which undertakes independent oversight, monitoring and review of the Code. A lawyer with more than 35 years’ experience, Lanyon was previously a senior Victorian Government executive with policy responsibility for retirement village regulation.
“Nearly 90 village operators have already committed to implement the Code through the pre-registration phase. Now is the time to translate interest into action,” Myers says.
A chance to fine tune policies
One of the organisations taking action is Goodwin Aged Care Services, which operates four retirement villages in the ACT.
Signing up to the Code “formally communicates our commitment to transparency and accountability while also demonstrating our commitment to continual improvement,” says executive manager Erik Boddeus.
Goodwin has reviewed all its policies and procedures, village contracts, marketing material and other relevant documents against the requirements of the Code to ensure full compliance, Boddeus says.
“We are in the process of referencing Goodwin’s compliance with the Code in all our contract documents and marketing material. We also have conducted information sessions for our residents at all our villages and introduced mandatory training for all our staff.”
Boddeus says the process of complying with the Code has helped Goodwin to “fine tune” its policies and procedures “to ensure that they are more strongly focused on our residents”. This has improved communication with both residents and staff, “and we’re stronger for it”.
Boddeus’ advice?
“It takes some thoughtful consideration, hard work and commitment to adhere to the Code, but it’s worth the effort.”
A focus on continuous improvement
Stockland’s retirement living communities are home to more than 12,000 residents around Australia.
“With the needs of our residents continuing to change, it’s important we continue to improve year on year to offer our residents a better way to live,” says general manager for operations and legal administration, Kirrily Lord.
“Our commitment to the Code of Conduct highlights our dedication to our residents and ensures these standards continue to be upheld, providing both our current and future residents with peace of mind and an exceptional quality of service.
“As the Code of Conduct covers the entire journey of a resident, including sales, marketing, legal, compliance and, of course operations, preparing for the Code was a great opportunity to review how we do business and focus on continuous improvement,” Lord adds.
Many of Stockland’s resident committees were actively involved in reviewing the draft Code, something Lord says “has been hugely beneficial”. Stockland has worked hard to ensure all staff understand the Code’s importance and benefits.
“We have leveraged the e-learning training made available by the Property Council for our teams. Discussions regarding the Code of Conduct have been business-wide and have created great talking points about the industry and our responsibilities as an operator.”
Stockland has also created a communications strategy, with an information pack for village managers, information sessions for residents and internal stakeholders, and “a personal letter from our CEO to our residents”.
Lord is enthusiastic about the Code’s impact on the retirement living sector.
“We’re stronger together – this is a great opportunity to truly improve the industry right now. It also sends a strong message to the wider community that this is an industry that is listening and evolving.”
Start the sign-up process and officially certify your communities as Code of Conduct compliant. Or undertake a pre-assessment using the self-certification checklist.