The Weekly SOURCE reported in last Tuesday’s newsletter, the WA Government had passed the Retirement Villages Act 1992 (WA) 2024 which had been more than a decade in the making.
These changes, when read with the subject matter of the foreshadowed new regulations, will be the most substantial re-write of the retirement village legislative framework in its 40-plus-year history, said Adam Levine, Simon Moen, Luke Paterson of Sydney-based K&L Gates LLP.
Last Tuesday we correctly reported a 12-month Exit entitlement deadline and the enforcement and publication of village comparison documents.
However, to the sector’s consternation, K&L Gates LLP’s solicitors have subsequently stated:
“The law reform creates a raft of new circumstances where officers risk personal criminal liability for the offences of their organisation.
“The sheer scale of the law reform and the plethora of new offences:
Increases the risk of an organisation committing an offence.
Increases the risk that its officers will be personally liable for that offence.
The issue applies to both paid directors and officers and to volunteer directors and officers.
“Criminal or civil liability for directors (whether direct, deemed or accessorial) is an increasing feature of the Australia corporate and legal landscape. This law reform specifically targets the Western Australia retirement living sector and will bring oversight of a retirement village’s regulatory compliance to the top of the board agenda.”
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