“Living without care is a crisis”: RVRA sounds warning

The need for additional care for residents in retirement villages will not go away quietly. 

Now, the NSW Retirement Villages Residents Association (NSW RVRA) says it is a crisis with people who have paid taxes all their lives being ignored. 

Village residents are having to support one another, including as first responders to falls or medical episodes occurring in the absence of a preventative care package. Also they patrol the village at night, persuading the wanderers – those with dementia – to return to their units. 

Roger Pallant, President of the NSW RVRA, said they had visited nine retirement villages and spoken with more than 500 residents these past few months. The message is consistent – people in retirement villages are confused and worried about what the changes to Support at Home mean for them. 

Roger told me that his village held a mini-expo three weeks ago, with four home care providers present. Others were invited, with one declining the opportunity as they had a “a waiting list to get on the waiting list” as Roger put it. 

Of the 100 residents who attended the expo, 40 signed up on the spot for a consultation with a home care provider. 

“This is not just about administration – it’s about people going without the care they need. Behind every delay is someone whose health and independence is deteriorating,” Roger told us. 

Roger gave examples of residents who need a Support at Home Package and yet have not even been assessed. This will not be new information to many of you who read this. 

More than 130,000 older Australians in total are on the national waiting list, with a further 100,000 still to be assessed.  

The average waiting time for a Home Care Package is 14 months. And when support does arrive, funding is capped at 60% for the first 10 weeks.   

“There is a real risk the system is counting dollars instead of caring for people,” he said. 

The Government has already signalled it does not have more money for aged care. 

Retirement villages are at times a microcosm of what is occurring in wider society. The stories we see reported each day are now the topic of discussion that the NSW RVRA is having regularly with retirement village residents. 

When the Residents Associations were established across each State and Territory, their role was clear: represent residents in matters of regulation, contracts and reform. 

That role is now shifting. 

As Association of Residents of Queensland Retirement Villages Inc (ARQRV) president Judy Mayfield has been signalling for some time, the conversation has moved beyond legislation. It is now about care, support and what happens when independence shifts to dependence. 

We are not surprised. The DCM Institute has been having these same discussions for years with Village Managers around the country, all of whom are concerned about their aging residents – and what this means for the future of their ‘independent living’ village.  

The sector has built its model on independence. 

The next phase will be defined by how it responds when independence fades.  

When asked whether residents are looking to operators for answers, Roger was clear: they are not. They are looking to Government. 

But for how long? 

Because the reality is this: when care is needed, it is not government that residents see each day. It is the village. The manager. The operator. 

As one resident put it to Roger, “Living longer is a gift – living without care is a crisis.”