Australia “failing the people that built this country”: GemLife CEO
“We have a housing crisis and we as land lease communities’ operators or seniors’ living providers are not immune to that.”
GemLife CEO Adrian Puljich – who has grown his migrant family’s over-50s land lease resort business into a $1.9 billion listed group – has issued a stark warning: Australia is “failing” its older citizens as the housing crisis deepens.
Adrian told The Australian Business Network that the crunch is hitting not only first-home buyers but also older Australians desperate to downsize in a rapidly ageing nation. GemLife is forecasting turnover to rise from $266.3 million in FY24 to $313.7 million in FY26, but he says the broader seniors’ housing landscape is nowhere near keeping pace.
“That is a very daunting and somewhat horrific set of circumstances that we’ve essentially failed the people that have built this country,” Adrian said. “We can’t provision for them in aged care beds. We can’t provision for them in retirement villages.
“These are the same people that built our cities post-WWII and post-Vietnam War. These are people that made sacrifices and still do to this day to help kids get on the property ladder, to pay for their tuition.
“And we simply don’t have enough accommodation in the seniors’ living space to house them, to allow them to age with dignity.”
Founded in 2015, GemLife is one of Australia’s fastest-growing land lease operators – but Adrian says the sector is also feeling the strain.
“When you look at the size and the demographics coming through and you look at the operator pool, there’s not nearly enough of us there that are able to service that downsizing market,” he said.
“We have a housing crisis and we as land lease communities’ operators or seniors’ living providers are not immune to that. We also have land shortage issues, delivery issues but we have a cohort here that we just can’t satisfy.
“That’s how big it is.”
He says both Federal and State Governments need to step up to help ease the pressure.
A younger cohort is reshaping the model
Adrian also noted a clear shift in who is entering land lease communities, with residents getting younger at the same time retirement village entrants are getting older.
“We’re definitely starting to see that age bracket drop. We’re seeing these downsizers being somewhat retired, fully retired, people still wanting to keep their minds active and keep their bodies moving,” he said.
“They’re getting the best of both worlds, moving into a lifestyle community but also still being fully engaged within the workforce, a by-product of our ageing population and people needing to work longer.”
He says today’s downsizers – including the first wave of Gen X – bring different expectations entirely.
“These people are now prioritising themselves. They’re prioritising their health and wellness. They’re proudly independent, fiercely in some instances.”
One example is GemLife’s own “GemLife Games”, a three-day event featuring table tennis, bowls, golf simulation, pickleball, billiards and even dancing competitions across multiple communities.
“It’s just unbelievable to see how impactful that event is to our homeowners who are essentially dotted around Australia, watching them come together and forge new friendships.”
