1 July 2021 marked the next stage of the NSW Government’s comprehensive retirement village reforms, which requires village operators to be upfront with the costs of managing assets for residents.
Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman welcomed the reforms to the Retirement Villages Act 1999, saying “These new reforms will protect residents in retirement villages, with operators being accountable for the costs of managing assets, including fixtures and fittings, so there will be no hidden surprises for residents”.
From 1 July 2021, village operators are required to:
• Prepare and keep up-to-date a 10-year asset management plan for the village’s major items of capital (including items shared with other villages or aged care businesses)
• Record certain information in the asset management plan
• Prepare a three-year report for the maintenance of major items of capital (extracted from the asset management plan), and include it in the annual budget process
• Make the asset management plan available for all current and prospective residents at reasonable times.
Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation Kevin Anderson said these reforms are in addition to the changes introduced earlier this year, including improving access to exit entitlements, creating a new mechanism to support residents moving to aged care, and placing a 42-day cap on the payment of recurrent charges for general services.
