Information for real estate consumers Consumer Protection have developed a number of publications to assist consumers with real estate transactions. Home buyers Home Buyers Survival Guide Sale by offer and acceptance Buying vacant land Buying land or property off-the-plan Timber pest inspections...
Patricia Blake January 2023 - Current Patricia Blake (known as Trish) became Commissioner for Consumer Protection and Executive Director for Consumer Protection in January 2023. Prior to becoming Commissioner Trish has been the Director of Retail and Services within Consumer Protection and worked...
Consumer Protection has undertaken a review of the laws which regulate long‑stay residential park tenancies in Western Australia. Status: Completed Background The purpose of this review is to assess the effectiveness of the operation of the Residential Parks (Long-stay Tenants) Act 2006 (RPLT Act...
Have you seen those ads on TV telling you how affordable a funeral plan can be? They say you can put money aside now to take the pressure off your family later. There are different ways to pay for a funeral, but some may be more suitable for you than others. One of the easiest ways to pay for a...
Scams, ripoffs and frauds are becoming more and more commonplace. Consumer Protection has developed WA ScamNet as one method of combatting this ever increasing problem.
Kimberley Floods 2023, by Consumer Protection
WA ScamNet Alert: Kimberley flood scams Watch out for Kimberley flood scams involving...
2022 Consumer Protection Awards - winners announced The winners of the 2022 Consumer Protection Awards were announced at a presentation ceremony held in Perth on 2 August 2022. To see who our 2022 winners are – visit the Consumer Protection Awards winners and...
A retirement village is a community of seniors living in individual premises sharing common facilities and amenities managed by a retirement village operator. There can be confusion about the differences between village complexes classified as retirement villages and those classified as residential...
From the outset it’s worth emphasising that life in a retirement village will involve living in a community with an older age group. Although retirement villages are marketed to over 55s, the current average age of entry in Western Australia is 78 years, and the current average age of residents is...
The style of buildings that make up retirement villages range from units, apartments and villas to townhouses and freestanding homes. Accommodation can include independent living units, serviced apartments and hostel accommodation. The accommodation in a retirement village is designed for seniors...
What's in a name? Retirement villages, lifestyle villages and strata title Some complexes use the term 'retirement', 'lifestyle', 'gardens', 'units' or 'apartments' but they can mean different things and don't actually tell you what sort of housing is provided and which laws apply. The table below...
June 2018 Welcome to our new retirement villages bulletin Welcome to the inaugural Consumer Protection WA retirement villages bulletin; we’re glad to have you on board. This new bulletin aims to make...
Flowchart guides to time caps on recurrent changes - residential premises permanently vacated BEFORE 1 April 2014 (retirement villages) Flowchart guides to time caps on recurrent changes -...
Further information is available in the Exemption certificates under section 77C of the Retirement Villages Act - Guidelines for applicants Who can apply for an exemption certificate? An exemption...
Exemption certificates under section 77C of the Retirement Villages Act Further information about the exemption certificate and the application form are available at Prohibited persons exemption...
DECISION REGULATORY IMPACT STATEMENT The recommendations detailed in this paper represent the Department’s final recommendations to Government arising from the statutory review process. A summary of...
This schedule must included with retirement village residence contracts entered into on or after 1 October 2015. The information generally reflects the termination rights and responsibilities under...
These flowcharts are for owners/operators of retirements villages, to assist in the understanding of the Retirement Village Act ammendments in regards to fees and charges.
This page contains forms and notices for use by residential parks managers and tenants. Are you a tenant in a family and domestic violence situation and need some assistance? Find out more about your...
Housing needs change with time. If you are over 55 or thereabouts, you may be considering changes to your housing that better meet your finances, lifestyle or present and future needs. You can view...
The third phase of consultation on proposed changes to retirement village laws in WA is looking at difficulties consumers considering seniors accommodation can experience in determining whether a village operates under the Retirement Villages Act (RV Act). The setting up of a public register is a proposal being put forward to assist in identifying whether a particular village is covered under the...
While the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic is changing rapidly, we remain focussed on delivering our services while adhering to advice from Government to protect the health and safety of our staff and the wider community. The department is planning for a range of scenarios and endeavouring to ensure continuity of service. A number of functions can be performed remotely or by using our online...
Under OSH legislation, employers are required to provide and maintain, as far as is practicable, a working environment in which their workers are not exposed to health risks. This includes situations where employees and contractors may be at risk of contracting viruses such as the COVID-19 coronavirus. Employers need to keep up to date with the latest health warnings from the Australian and WA...
With Commissioner for Consumer Protection Lanie Chopping There are many success stories of people who’ve met through dating websites or apps and fallen in love but unfortunately there are also some very sad stories where people have fallen victim to romance scams. In 2019 Australians reported romance scam losses of more than $28 million, to the ACCC’s Scamwatch. Australia’s consumer protection...
With Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard Imagine waiting four years for money owed to you after leaving a retirement village. In extreme cases it’s the shocking reality for former retirement village residents who are left in serious financial hardship and distress and unable to pay for alternative accommodation. We know seniors in this position may have urgent needs to move into...
The second phase of consultation on proposed changes to retirement village laws in WA will look at the time it takes for former residents to receive their exit entitlements. Currently, in some extreme cases, former residents of retirement villages have reported waiting up to four years before they receive funds owing to them, often causing serious financial hardship and distress. These funds are...
Our offices will be closed from Wednesday 25 December 2019 to Wednesday 1 January 2020. Normal services will return on Thursday 2 January 2020. For urgent enquiries please visit our contact page.
A tree lopper who accepted payment to cut down six trees but only chopped off branches on one has been fined $3,000 after pleading guilty to breaching the Australian Consumer Law. Siuosavaii Maiava trading as Fairdinkum Tree Services was also ordered to pay court costs of $2,307.50 when the Consumer Protection prosecution was heard at the Joondalup Magistrates Court on Friday 11 October 2019. In...
Consumer Protection is offering some reassurances for residents of two WA retirement villages affected by the Settlers group of companies being placed into receivership. Administrators and receivers have been appointed to the company which operates a total of 463 units at Settlers Lakeside village in Ravenswood near Mandurah and Settlers Ridgewood Rise near Butler, as well as two villages in...
With Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard If you don’t know much about iTunes gift cards, that’s music to scammers’ ears. Fraudsters call out-of-the-blue pretending to be a representative of a government agency, such as the Australian Tax Office (ATO), or they might pose as a utility company – they say you owe money and make threats to scare you, claiming you can pay off the debt...
