The care (and new regulations) clock is ticking for villages, says new Govt review
It is rare for the Federal Government to act fast on a review, but it happened last week and retirement villages are part of the story.
The Minister for Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, announced a surprise $3 billion specifically to boost the supply of new aged care beds, predominately to stimulate the build of new facilities.
He has publicly said that the sector desperately needs a new aged care home every three days for the next 20 years to satisfy Baby Boomer demand – and that is not going to happen.
Enter retirement villages. Butler’s $3 billion was based on the just-released Independent Review of Residential Aged Care Accommodation Pricing, commissioned to figure out how to make aged care investable, meaning how to attract capital to build beds.
It says, in part:
“These facts indicate that at the sector level, capital investment decisions in the retirement living sector impact those made in the residential aged care sector, and that there are synergies and opportunities for the government to consider how the two can be better integrated in a holistic aged care system.”
The sector has long wanted recognition federally to win access to new pathways to ease care services into villages, like the Retirement Living Council’s Shared Care initiative which seeks to use home care fees to fund a village nurse, as an example.
But when the Federal Government is supplying cash, it also supplies new regulations.
The review points to this:
“Many residents in retirement living settings receive Australian Government funded or subsidized in-home care services, which is expected to continue under the newly implemented Support at Home program.”
“While the retirement living sector is predominantly regulated through state and territory legislation, the Review acknowledges it forms a key part of the ageing system in Australia, with many residential aged care providers operating in all three major aged care areas (i.e. in-home care, retirement living and residential aged care).”
“The growing integration of the residential aged care sector and the retirement living sector can also be seen in the recent changes introduced by the South Australian Government, which redefined residential aged care homes as essential infrastructure and included co-located retirement villages in that definition.”
Infrastructure status can be good for the sector. It brings planning priority and investment certainty, but it also brings something else: governance, accountability, rules.
If retirement living is formally integrated into that system, the question is no longer whether operators are part of aged care. It is how they will be expected to operate within it. Is the sector happy to have both a State and a Federal regulatory umbrella to operate or is it too late?
Chris Blake, CEO of St. Vincent’s Health Australia, stated at the 2026 LEADERS SUMMIT last month that his organisation believes the whole care system will collapse within four years and that villages will become a vital care resource in its hub-and-spoke vision. He is betting his 30,000 staff on it.
The clock is ticking.
Extract – below is the text from Page 54 of the Review:
Harmonisation with retirement living
While the retirement living sector is predominantly regulated through state and territory legislation, the Review acknowledges it forms a key part of the ageing system in Australia, with many residential aged care providers operating in all three major aged care areas (i.e. in-home care, retirement living and residential aged care).
Many residents in retirement living settings receive Australian Government funded or subsidized in-home care services, which is expected to continue under the newly implemented Support at Home program.
There is also shared jurisdiction between the Commonwealth and States and Territory governments, particularly in the areas of consumer protection and the National Construction Code, which defines the building specifications that facilities need to meet to be classified as residential care or residential aged care.
Further, there is a significant and growing proportion of aged care homes co-located with retirement living villages. The growing integration of the residential aged care sector and the retirement living sector can also be seen in the recent changes introduced by the South Australian Government, which redefined residential aged care homes as essential infrastructure and included co-located retirement villages in that definition.
As shown in the 2011 Productivity Commission report Caring for Older Australians, the retirement living sector can form a key middle part of the ageing journey.
The Retirement Living Council (RLC) estimating that around 250,000 Australians live in these settings, making it larger by population than the residential aged care sector. The RLC also estimates that the retirement living sector could delay the need for residential aged care services by up to two years for 11,600 residents.
These facts indicate that at the sector level, capital investment decisions in the retirement living sector impact those made in the residential aged care sector, and that there are synergies and opportunities for the government to consider how the two can be better integrated in a holistic aged care system.
