ABC 7.30 featured four residents in its agenda-driven stories on retirement villages to claim there are “systemic” issues in the retirement living sector and the “Fee structure creates incentive to churn residents".
That left 249,996 retirement living residents and today, we feature the words of Gordon and Thelma Grace, who are the oldest residents in Australian Unity’s Willandra Village and Bungalows in Cromer, 20km northeast of Sydney’s CBD; Pat Cannard and Evelyn O’Mara, who are celebrating 25 years at Bolton Clarke Inverpine, Murrumba Downs, 25km north of Brisbane; and May Backhouse, who resides at Aveo’s Derwent Waters Retirement Living in Claremont, Hobart, Tasmania, and the longest residing resident of any Aveo community in Australia.
"I said to my three girls when we were about to move in, if there is any money left when we leave then it would be down to my bad management,” said Thelma, 94.
“We sold our home as the three had left and the house needed a lot of work and it was beyond us. We looked at an apartment and did not like anything, then we found this village, which was on Stage Five, and fell in love with it.
“It’s got a tennis court and a swimming pool. We didn’t have either at home.”
Gordon, 97, and Thelma visited an accountant before moving into the retirement village.
“He said ‘It's not a money-making thing. It's not an investment. It is a way of a new life,’” Thelma said.
“It is a community here, people come in and say hello and check how we are, bring a meal for us and we still get to Happy Hour on a Friday.”
Pat and Evelyn moved into Bolton Clarke Inverpine with their husbands, who sadly have passed. They are part of 11 residents who have been at the village for its 25 years, which is celebrated today.
“We gave ourselves two years to look around for a retirement village and this was by far the best and it even provides a free bus to take us shopping three days a week,” Evelyn said.
“We never regretted our decision moving here.”
Pat said the security and the social life "has always been really good and I’ve got great neighbours”.
May has been at Derwent Waters for 36 years and says something ABC 7.30 and its journalist Adele Ferguson failed to grasp or simply ignored.
“I have no other family living in Tasmania so the community here at Derwent Waters is like a family to me,’’ May said.
“After so many years it really is where I consider ‘home’. I know all my neighbours and the staff have become my friends too. They are always at the end of the phone 24/7 and I have security and friendship.
“I live in a very comfortable two-bedroom villa with magnificent water views that in Sydney would cost me $5 million. I love just sitting here looking out my window as the mighty Derwent River flows past.’’
“Fee structure creates incentive to churn residents”
Adele Ferguson interviewed Housing for the Aged Action Group Executive Officer, Fiona York, who said: "They want the residents to get out and then they can resell the unit at a higher amount of money for the next person coming in."
Adele wrote ‘York says exit fees create an incentive for retirement villages to try to get rid of residents when the exit fee reaches its maximum amount.’
The above residents are keen to tell a very different story.
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