The retirement village sector was not in a strong position to respond to such challenges because it does not have one peak body that represents a significant majority of operators.
Three peak bodies exist. The Retirement Living Council (a Chapter of the Property Council and open to all village operators), Aged & Community Services Australia (ACSA) representing not-for-profit village and care operators, and Leading Age Services Australia (LASA) representing private and not-for-profit village and care operators.
The RLC is the most active in the retirement living space and has the support of the major private operators. However it is limited by representing only 55,000 of the 200,000 retirement village homes, owned by just 89 operators out of the 600 in the village sector.
Across the three peak bodies their collective membership accounts for less than 70% of all retirement operators across the country.
Just in the last few months LASA and ACSA have joined with the RLC on several key initiatives.
The most important is the Code of Conduct which has taken 12 months to develop, predominantly by the RLC, and was jointly released last week by the RLC, LASA and ACSA.
It is a voluntary code because the peak bodies can’t force compliance by their members. Last Sunday the NSW Government threw in a grenade by announcing it will require a compulsory Code of Conduct for all operators and it wants penalties. Whose Code of Conduct will be adopted is too early to say. See the following story.
The cornerstone of the RLC’s actions is their 8-Point Plan, formally released in November.
These are the initiatives and where they are today.
Point One: Nationally consistent legislation and plain English contracts –
The 2016 RLC ‘standardised contract’ is being reviewed and an updated assessment of the legislation around the country is being made, plus residents are being engaged.
Point Two: Improve industry accreditation standards and make mandatory –
The RLC and LASA, who both operate separate accreditation programs, have agreed to combine forces to develop a new accreditation scheme. It is due for release by Christmas 2018.
Point Three: Improve training and professional support of village managers and sales staff –
The Property Council Academy Village Manager course has been redesigned and relaunched.
Point Four: Encourage potential residents to seek independent legal and financial advice –
The Law Society in each state is being approached to promote a lawyer accreditation in village contracts and the RLC has facilitated a release of standard documents for new residents to sign acknowledging they have decided not to get legal advice.
Point Five: Support a quick, cost effective independent dispute resolution process like an Ombudsman –
An RLC committee is “working through the issues”. The NSW Government has now announced it will establish an ‘Ambassador’ to observe and guide disputes and report to Government on recalcitrant operators.
Point Six: Ensure transparent pricing of accommodation and services –
Part of plain English contracts and will be covered in the Code of Conduct (see below).
Point Seven: Maintain and strengthen relationships with the resident associations –
Ongoing.
Point Eight: Develop a Code of Conduct –
Final draft released last week (22 June) for feedback. The intention is to make it mandatory for operators who are members of the Property Council/RLC/ACSA/LASA. See next story.
In addition the RLC has been developing a media communication strategy, including paid advertising. It has announced it will commence in August.
