We attended the Wollongong ‘town hall meeting’ staged by Kathryn Greiner as she leads the NSW Fair Trading enquiry into retirement villages following the Fairfax/Four Corners media coverage.
The third of seven events across the state, approximately 80 village residents attended the two-hour session.
Greiner was very balanced in her approach, leading with the statement that “the Minister is particularly interested in transparency and fairness” for prospective residents and actual residents. She led the audience through the topics covered by the enquiry:
- Marketing and advertising activities in the retirement village sector
- Costs, contracts, rights and responsibilities
- Funding for village maintenance and upgrades
- Safety and security of retirement villages
- Resolving disputes
- Honest, fair and diligent operation of retirement villages
- Opportunities for improvement and what is working well in the retirement villages sector
Most residents attending were in their early 70s and 70% were male. Just 12 or so actually spoke to the issues. They made 45 comments – approximately four each.
Despite the breadth of the enquiry, transparency of operational costs plus who pays the capital items dominated the comments. Implicit was poor communication between the operator and residents and reference to village managers having authority.
The DMF was not treated as a major issue by the residents.
Greiner asked for a show of hands at the end which got a very poor participation rate:
- Did your operator act honestly? Yes 8 No 4
- Did your operator act diligently? Yes 8 No 12
- Did your operator act fairly? Yes 4 No 12
- Would you join a village again? Yes 12 No 12
40% of attendees said they had got a solicitor check the contract before entering the village.
Afterwards Greiner told us that the previous town hall meetings were identical in style and substance.
You can check the terms of reference and the remaining town hall meeting dates HERE.