Retirement Villages Australia
Retirement village living
An overview of the NSW retirement village laws
Role of the Office of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading administers the laws that set out the rights and obligations of prospective residents, residents
of retirement villages and village operators.
Our role includes the following responsibilities:
• providing information about the retirement village laws
• handling complaints about possible breaches of the laws
• taking or defending judicial proceedings on behalf of
residents in matters of public interest
• conducting education campaigns
• producing educational resources on retirement
village matters
• investigating and carrying out research into retirement
village matters
• monitoring the industry to detect unfair practices
• reviewing and amending the laws to ensure they
remain relevant.
Once you have made up your mind to move into a retirement
village, there are many important things to take into account
before finalising your choice. These issues are covered in the
following chapters of this booklet. There are many hundreds
of retirement villages in NSW of different sizes and style
providing a range of services and facilities. Take time to
obtain all the information you can from the villages of interest
to you.
As a prospective resident, you are entitled to receive a copy
of this booklet from any village you express an interest in.
It must be supplied at or before the time you are given a
disclosure statement (page 11).
If after reading this booklet you have any further queries or
questions please contact your nearest Fair Trading Centre.
Which Fair Trading laws apply?
From 1 July 2000 the main laws regulating retirement
villages are:
1. The Retirement Villages Act 1999, which:
• sets out the rights and obligations of residents
and operators
• explains what information must be given to prospective
residents
• sets out the process of entering into a village contract
• provides for the establishment of Residents Committees
• explains how and when a contract can be ended.
What is a retirement village?
Any residential complex predominantly occupied by
residents who are aged over 55 years, or who have retired
from full-time employment, may be a retirement village.
Residents of the complex must enter into a contract with the
operator of the complex, either to occupy the premises and/
or to receive services.
There are some 750 retirement villages currently in New
South Wales, accommodating about 40,000 residents.
Retirement villages are located across the State and are
operated by church, charitable, community as well as private
operators.
A broad range of accommodation is available within the
retirement village industry. Self-contained premises are
available to those able to live independently. Serviced
premises (or assisted living apartments), with meals,
cleaning and other personal services provided are also
available within the industry. Some villages contain a mix of
self-contained and serviced premises, allowing residents to
transfer when and if the need arises.
Personal support services are available at some but not
all retirement villages. Prospective residents should make
enquiries with each operator regarding the standard, extent
and cost of personal support services, if any, available at
the village.
This article / booklet is continued at http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/pdfs/About_us/Publications/ft011.pdf.
This information sourced from the Office of Fair Trading, NSW
