Topic - Opinion

Productivity is sinking – Plan T is the lifeline

Productivity is Canberra’s buzzword of the year and for good reason. Government spending is at its highest level since WWII, care waitlists are ballooning, and the economy is leaning heavily on sectors that aren’t delivering a strong return on...

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Lauren Broomham

4 hours ago

Opinion

Why the retirement living sector should embrace RetireAustralia’s Care Hub

RetireAustralia’s The Care Hub will be in every new RetireAustralia village going forward, so why has the retirement living sector been so reluctant to follow? It is a magnet for residents, who hate the thought of entering residential aged care or languishing in a hospital bed awaiting aged care.

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Ian Horswill

29 Jul 2025

Opinion

Across Australia there is a model of aged care where eager customers are lining up at the door to enter

These are retirement villages, not aged care homes, and we call it private aged care. While we have been banging on about this model for several years, we are seeing the early green shoots of a new, significant sector, being driven by the new...

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Chris Baynes

24 Jul 2025

Opinion

Are LDK, Odyssey and Anglicare the only visionaries in the retirement living sector?

Are you an executive in the retirement living sector? If yes, I strongly urge you to join our ‘Ask a visionary anything’ breakfasts in September (Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane). We are a media group and get to speak to a wide range of...

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Chris Baynes

22 Jul 2025

Opinion

A rights-based aged care system: who is the government kidding?

The government claims a rights-based aged care system, but delays, rationed care, and massive waiting lists tell another story. 88,000 are waiting for home care and even Health Minister Mark Butler says almost every aged care facility he visits is full.

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Ian Horswill

17 Jul 2025

Opinion

The law is an ass – and it has cost Lifestyle Communities $1.5 billion and counting

The tribunal in Victoria has ruled the contract requirement of departing residents from land lease operator Lifestyle Communities is void based on a legal/legislative wording, despite residents being well informed when they signed that contract...

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Chris Baynes

15 Jul 2025

Opinion

A return to the dark days: Negative media headlines are back – can the sector pressure the Government for real change?

In 2018, just before the ABC’s Who Cares? program aired and the Morrison Government announced the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, the headlines around home care and aged care turned bleak. Reading the papers this week, it’s...

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Lauren Broomham

10 Jul 2025

Opinion

Moving deck chairs on the Titanic: Govt fails to shift the needle on aged care

The Albanese Government promised to fix aged care. But if this is “fixing it,” we’re in trouble. Let’s start with Example 1: Blair Comley’s 2025 Departmental Briefing to Health Minister Mark Butler – obtained via FOI – doesn’t list...

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Lauren Broomham

03 Jul 2025

Opinion

Going nowhere fast: aged care is shrinking yet the sector’s money keeps growing

KPMG’s latest deep dive into the aged care sector is out today – and it confirms what many of us already know. Demand is rising. So is the money. But the sector? It’s still shrinking. Take home care. Government funding soared 29.2% to $8.8...

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Lauren Broomham

26 Jun 2025

Opinion

Two retirement living surveys deliver 3,330 new village homes a year: $2.5B in new sales

Optimism has been the theme of the LEADERS SUMMIT for the past two years and there was clearly positive emotions at the Retirement Living Council national conference in Brisbane last week. And here is why: new retirement village development is back...

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Ian Horswill

24 Jun 2025

Opinion

Reaping what we sow: No aged care beds. Now what? Time for Plan T

Australia’s aged care sector is in crisis – and no one should be surprised. After years of underbuilding, we’re now paying the price. Our analysis of GEN Aged Care Data shows that between 2020-21 and 2023-24, South Australia added just 253...

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Lauren Broomham

19 Jun 2025

Opinion

It took a 28-year-old to reboot the retirement living sector – at speed

Adrian Puljich was 28 years of age when he conceived GemLife and then convinced Singapore diversified investment business Thakral Corporation to commit 50% of funds to create the business. Nine years later it is valued at $1.58 billion. How did he...

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Chris Baynes

16 Jun 2025

Aged Care

Plan T: urgent ‘transformation’ needed to future-proof aged care for residents and operators

With aged care home occupancy over 95%, 85,000-plus on home care wait lists, and thousands stuck in hospitals, Australia’s aged care system is already operating beyond capacity – and facing a demographic tidal wave.

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Chris Baynes

12 Jun 2025