Legal Issues

2025 LEADERS SUMMIT: The latest on retirement village laws in Australia

May 12 2025 Updated May 12, 2025

Ian Horswill

1 min read

Tammy addresses the sold-out LEADERS SUMMIT audience with colleagues Penelope Eden and Deanna McMaster looking on.

Tammy Berghofer, Partner at MinterEllison specialising in Real Estate and Retirement Living, outlined recent developments in the Retirement Villages Acts across various states during day two of the 2025 LEADERS SUMMIT.

Tammy revealed how the regulations being proposed would affect operators, with additional costs to bear.

The SUMMIT program was curated to lead delegates through the significant challenges and opportunities the sectors face. We at DCM Group have made 23 key presentation videos publicly available to support the sector’s leaders in their strategy development.

They are now available to play on The Weekly SOURCE website: theweeklysource.com.au/leaders-summit-2025.

The slides have also been emailed to each delegate.

See and hear Tammy’s speech in full.

RLC and StewartBrown lobbying sees retirement village operators’ proposed liquidity ratio cut from 10% to 2%

Daniel Gannon, Executive Director of the Retirement Living Council, said the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s proposal to make residential aged care providers operating independent living units (ILUs) and retirement villages retain 10% of ILU and retirement village refundable amounts as liquid funds from 1 July this year, has been reduced to 2%.

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Ian Horswill

26 May 2025

Sector Moves & People

ECH Chief Executive Claire Scapinello resigns after three years in role

In a surprise move, Claire has left South Australia’s largest retirement living provider just months after being elected Vice-President of the peak body, the Retirement Living Council, in February.

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Ian Horswill

22 May 2025

Government Policy

New Minister for Aged Care meets with Aged Care Transition Taskforce as sector seeks staggered reforms

It’s still within the Government’s powers to stage the aged care reforms, as the new Minister for Aged Care Sam Rae met with the Aged Care Transition Taskforce this week.

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Caroline Egan

22 May 2025

Opinion

Scape - the disruptor that will turn the retirement living sector on its head

“As we think about senior housing, that sector in itself is too fragmented and it needs a bit of leadership from someone to kind of disrupt,” Stephen Gaitanos, co-founder, Managing Director and Group CEO of Scape Australia told Mingtiandi’s...

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Ian Horswill

27 May 2025

Uniting NSW.ACT’s $1.5B pipeline guided by 80/20 development strategy

Retirement living is firmly in the growth spotlight for Uniting NSW.ACT, with the organisation targeting an 80/20 development mix – 80% independent living units and 20% residential aged care beds.

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Odyssey Lifestyle Care Communities’ Hope Island, Gold Coast, vision for retirees approved

Phil Usher’s private aged care venture, operating under the Retirement Villages Act and backed by super fund Australian Retirement Trust (formed from the merger of Sunsuper and QSuper), has received approval from the City of Gold Coast for his...

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Meet the Best Community Development finalists at National Retirement Living Summit

The One Fell Swoop sponsored award, which will be named at the Retirement Living Council’s annual National Retirement Living Summit, which takes place in Brisbane from 18-20 June, is for new developments that have been completed in the previous...

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Delay pays off for The Village Retirement Group as 50% of The Village Manly, Brisbane, Stage 1, sells in six months

With the incoming contribution for a three-bedroom apartment $1.3 to $1.6 million, 38 apartments are for sale in Stage 1 in what is considered one of the finest locations for a retirement village in Queensland. The Village Manly, a partnership...

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Ian Horswill

11 hours ago