Last week Stockland CEO Stephen Bull flew into Sydney the 49 managers and the 49 Resident Committee Presidents of the 49 villages across Australia that Stockland owns and manages.
A special lunch was staged to celebrate that each village had achieved Lifemark accreditation certification.
Stockland is the first operator to have all its owned villages Lifemark accredited plus its Head Office.
They have been a strong advocate of the establishment of the Lifemark program through the Property Council and the Retirement Living Council.
The Lifemark Village Scheme is a new, independent quality assurance program conducted by BSI, an international accreditation agency that also manages accreditation for organisations such as Australias physiotherapists and Woolworths.
Villages and the operator are independently checked by professional auditors; they are judged on 26 industry standards that are divided into six categories:
Lifestyle: social activities, transport, resident involvement in decision making
Support: information, resident orientation, communication, satisfaction
People/staff: dignity and privacy, performance of employees and volunteers, staff orientation, performance management, people development
Safety: security, signage, emergency procedures, disaster planning
Regulations: food and catering, financial arrangements, compliance, occupational health and safety, insurance
Village policy: dispute resolution, resident meetings, maintenance
