A RECOMMENDATION that village managers receive training and accreditation has been widely welcomed by seniors' and consumer groups.
This was one of 15 recommendations to come from the Victorian Parliament's Legal and Social Issues Committee report on the retirement housing sector.
The inquiry focused on for-profit and not-for-profit retirement villages, mobile home communities, independent living units and rental villages.
Its recommendations cover areas of supply and demand of retirement housing, legislation, contracts, costs, relationships between management and residents, and dispute resolution.
Council on the Ageing (COTA) Victoria chief executive Ronda Held pointed to a number of areas where the campaign for change has been heard.
"People want to age in place," she said. "The recommendation for aged care and disability design professionals to be proactively engaged in the design of villages and parks will support people to age well and with dignity."
COTA, Housing for the Aged Action Group (HAAG), the Consumer Action Law Centre and Residents of Retirement Villages Victoria were among those who praised the recommendations for managers to receive training and accreditation.
"Residents living in retirement villages and residential parks want greater accountability and skill levels from employees and owners," Ms Held said.
"People within this sector need to have finance skills, an understanding of the legislation, dispute resolutions and respectful communication.
"We are pleased to see recommendations that address the complexity of contracts, and greater disclosure of costs including deferred management fees and exit fees.
"Reforms to clarify timelines and responsibilities for repairs and maintenance are overdue."
HAAG's project manager for national older persons' homeless prevention, Jeff Fiedler, said the organisation was delighted with the report.
"The issues have been listened to - a number of the recommendations reflect our members' concerns," he said.
"Low cost, timely and binding resolution of disputes through a new body or by extending the powers of an existing ombudsman is a good idea.
"VCAT (Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal) hearings can take up to six months, which is unworkable.
"Contracts are very complex and disputes can be protracted. It's in everyone's interests to settle disputes amicably, and a quicker, more efficient and easier system for residents is a good thing."
Mr Fiedler also welcomed the recommendation for a review of the Retirement Villages Act 1986.
"This is a critical one - more robust legislation is needed," he said.
"The Act should prescribe actions in various situations. Currently it's based on existing contracts, which have been designed by village operators - and that often does not work in the interests of residents."
Mr Fiedler said the only area of retirement housing that requires further attention is residential parks.
"This form of housing has been shunted around a bit. It sits under the Residential Tenancies Act and the situation there hasn't been fully addressed in the parliamentary inquiry.
"We would like to see a separate inquiry into residential parks."
Recommendations include:
- Consideration be given to planning provisions that encourage increased supply of retirement housing, such as the establishment of retirement housing zones.
- Review of the Retirement Villages Act 1986.
- Consumer Affairs Victoria to collate its online retirement villages information into a booklet, which village operators must provide to potential residents either as hard copy or electronically.
- Development of professional accreditation for specialists in retirement housing, and training for GPs to improve their understanding of this area of the law.
- Retirement village operators disclose ingoing prices with and without deferred management fees, and those fees be applied on a pro rata basis.
- Operators provide residents with an estimate of their exit fees every financial year.
- Provisions for village operators to pay either the refundable accommodation deposit (RAD) or daily accommodation payment (DAP) for residents entering aged care until the resident's unit is sold.
