Retirement village law reforms: Retirement villages bulletin 7

This publication is for: 
Retirement village owner / operator

Update on the retirement village legislation reform process

Submissions to all Consultation Regulatory Impact Statements (CRIS) are now closed.

We would like to thank all stakeholders who provided feedback during the consultation period of the retirement village reform process. You can view the CRIS 1-4 papers on the Retirement village law reforms 2019 - 2021 website page. 

You can register via email to receive further updates on the reform process.

If you have any queries about the reform process please e-mail Consumer Protection WA.

23 December 2019

Consultation 2 - Operator Responsibility - Now open

Please tell us your thoughts, experiences and opinions on possible changes to retirement village laws.
Consultation on reform to retirement village laws commenced with the release of the first consultation paper (CRIS 1) in August 2019. The second consultation paper (CRIS 2) is now available for public comment.
 
This part of the consultation seeks your views on operator management responsibilities to the retirement village community including:
  • the timeline for payment of exit entitlements;
  • residents approval of operating budgets;
  • reserve funds and capital works;
  • refurbishment of residences;
  • the definition of administering body; and
  • operator and resident conduct obligations.

Background to reform process

There were significant changes to the Retirement Villages Act 1992 (WA) (RV Act) that were put in place prior to 2016 as a result of the stage 1 reforms which implemented recommendations of the 2010 Statutory Review of Retirement Villages Legislation Final Report. Many of these changes were focused on providing the consumer with more information when deciding whether to enter into a retirement village agreement.  
 
Stage 2 of the reform process continues the implementation of the Final Report recommendations as well as considering additional issues which continue to cause problems in retirement villages. As there are a large number of issues to be consulted on, the issues have been grouped into several categories which deal with common themes. The first paper, CRIS 1, was released on 1 August 2019 and focused on the concept and definition of the retirement village product, how it is advertised and promoted and how the price of the product is communicated to consumers. This second paper, CRIS 2 considers the obligations of the Operator of the retirement village. 

 

Future consultation papers

There will be further CRIS papers released in 2020 that include:
  • Better identification of retirement villages
  • Village development, sales and marketing  
  • Village re-development, termination of scheme and new village models
  • Compliance and enforcement

Find out more about upcoming consultations.

You can download the Have your say about retirement villages’ legislation poster to assist with the promotion of the consultation paper to your stakeholders.

Consumer Protection
Bulletin
Last updated 17 Dec 2021

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