10 years after the Ingenia Chairman and former Primelife MD forecast that Not For Profits would dominate aged care and villages in the future, his prediction has come full circle.
He has made a number of predictions around this view at the LEADERS SUMMIT over the years – in 2015, he said:
“The future of retirement living belongs to the Not For Profits – they have the balance sheets, they have the brands, they have the care services and they have the executives to dominate in five years’ from now.”
Jim says the Aged Care Royal Commission has confirmed that the continuum of care model is the way forward for retirement villages – and Not For Profits are perfectly set up to capitalise on this shift.
Retirement living had moved away from ‘care’ towards ‘independent living’ following the consolidation around the larger private operators – Lendlease, Stockland and Aveo or FKP as it was then known – in the early 2000s.
But with the age of village residents increasing, Jim says it was clear there would be a return to an integration of seniors housing and care – and the Not For Profits are best placed to lead this journey.
“For the last 10 years, it's been difficult to make a profit in aged care so, a lot of Not For Profits have gone back to retirement models. They have capital, they have land, they dominate care ,so they have a massive head start in offering a continuum of care model,” he said.
“Now we have the Royal Commission done, we have a very clear understanding of where we are going with seniors housing and care, and that is around a consumer care focused model, where I would say in 5 years’ time, retirement villages will be able to offer residential care in their units.”
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