Daniel Gannon at LEADERS SUMMIT: Care in retirement living is infrastructure

The Retirement Living Council Executive Director has countered the argument that independent living units in villages will inevitably become aged care beds.

The prevailing narrative suggests that as care needs increase, independence must recede. That independent living inevitably gives way to institutional care. That the presence of care signals decline rather than capability. Daniel Gannon states that logic is flawed and if left unchallenged, it will distort strategy, regulation and investment for the decade ahead.  

In a strongly worded speech, Daniel used the small group of residents from Aveo’s Bayview Gardens retirement village in Bayview, in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, who went indoor skydiving and whitewater rafting, as evidence of the independence of retirement villages.

The Executive Director noted that the demand for care is rising and the occupancy levels of aged care homes is already around 95%. Home Care Package waiting times for older Australians have more than doubled between financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25.

“All of that is true. But here is the mistake taking hold – not just in commentary, but in how organisations talk about themselves, and how regulation increasingly starts to treat them,” Daniel said.

“The mistake is a leap that feels logical, but isn’t.

“That more care automatically means less independence. That care is a binary switch – you’re either “independent” or you’re “in care”. That if care is present, independence must, by definition, recede. That is the wrong mental model.

“In reality, care is a continuum. People often choose retirement living because it removes friction – maintenance, safety, emergency response, and support with the daily load. In other words: some level of “care” is being consumed from day one.

“And it’s not a harmless misunderstanding. Because the moment you accept that model – that more care means less independence – everything downstream changes.”

Daniel said care is not the opposite of independence.

“For a lot of operators, it’s a proud part of the promise – and a real strength. Strategically, the goal is simple: care should enable independence, not replace it,” he said.

“What we see, time and again, is this: When people feel supported, connected, and not alone in managing everyday life, they don’t withdraw. They grow in confidence.

“That’s not sentimentality. It’s behavioural reality. And the strategic lesson is blunt security enables independence. Support doesn’t create passivity. It creates confidence. Care, done properly, doesn’t narrow life. It widens it.”