South Australia – now at the epicentre of Australia’s aged care crisis – is yet to decide whether to allow greater building heights for large retirement villages and supported living developments, despite mounting pressure to expand accommodation options for its ageing population.
The proposed Accommodation Diversity Code Amendment , released in May 2024, would permit retirement villages on sites of one hectare or more to reach four storeys, and those on two hectares or more to rise to six storeys. Public engagement closed on 27 February 2025, but the final decision remains on the desk of Planning Minister Nick Champion.
Meanwhile, the Retirement Living Council (RLC) has achieved a significant policy breakthrough, securing “essential infrastructure” status for co-located retirement living and aged care projects in South Australia. Under the reform, projects worth more than $10 million will be assessed directly by the Minister for Planning, with input from the State Commission Assessment Panel.
“South Australia has delivered a nation-leading reform in declaring retirement villages co-located with aged care facilities ‘essential infrastructure’,” said Daniel Gannon, RLC Executive Director. “Our task now is to take this blueprint to governments across the country to see this ground-breaking change adopted.”
The urgency is clear. South Australia has the highest national rate of hospital bed days occupied by older patients waiting for aged care – 24.4 days in 2022-23, compared with a national average of 13.2 days.
That represents a 35% increase in two years, leaving nearly 300 older people stranded in public hospitals because there are no aged care beds available – a fivefold rise since the Malinauskas Government took office in 2022, when around 60 patients were in the same situation.
