User Profile

Chris
Baynes

Scape moving to acquire Aveo is good news – here is why

It was revealed in the Financial Review this week that Australian student accommodation giant Scape is now the exclusive bidder to buy Aveo, for an indicated $3.5B. They will bring fresh thinking to the retirement village sector. Take a step back...

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Cyril is aged care today – it is not fixed

This photo is of Cyril Tooze, aged 86. He is in Victor Harbour Hospital (SA) last October, weighing just 42 kilos after waiting alone at home since January for his Level 4 Home Care package. It never came. Cyril is the face of the aged care system...

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Chris Baynes

11 Apr 2025

Opinion

Since November 2021 just 485 new ILUs and 440 new beds have been ticked in NSW under new preferential laws. But green shoots are appearing

In three years and five months, only six new ‘significant’ development projects have been approved as NSW State Significant Developments. None have broken ground yet. With a $20 million or $30 million entry to the system, all new villages will...

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Chris Baynes

08 Apr 2025

Opinion

Small is good – and faster in retirement living, but what does that say about the future?

Today we cover Mark Bindon and Franco DePasquale announcing their re-entry to the retirement village sector with three separate village projects of around just 25 homes each. Meanwhile Adrian Puljich announced at the LEADERS SUMMIT his new Aliri...

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Chris Baynes

01 Apr 2025

Chris Baynes

Structural policy, productivity and strategic imperatives to support ageing Australians missing at one minute to midnight

We get it; it’s an election budget, and as Paul Keating used to say, ‘if you are not in power, you have no power’.

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Chris Baynes

26 Mar 2025

Opinion

Fact: the village sector understands retirement accommodation. It is time to shine

NSW Planning has just delivered the “worst-case scenario for the seniors housing industry’ in its Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy, leaving retirement villages behind as ‘road kill’, according to Ethos Urban. In summary, affordable housing...

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Chris Baynes

25 Mar 2025

Opinion

Village operators relying on external Home Care take note: 105 days to new regs

Home Care is about to change significantly. You should know one reason but you are unlikely to know the second. Home Care changes to a new system titled Support at Home (S@H) on 1 July, just 105 days from now, or 71 working days. A lot of the...

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Chris Baynes

17 Mar 2025

Opinion

Australian Unity Group CEO Rohan Mead calls out why all village operators need to focus on a new revenue business model

The Financial Review last Wednesday published an exclusive article based on Rohan Mead’s assertion that the Australian health system is about to be swamped. In simple language, currently we average 20,000 ageing Australians turning 80 each year...

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Chris Baynes

10 Mar 2025

Opinion

Is this the canary in the coal mine for retirement village operators? The future when care crosses independent living

On 18 February, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission quietly released an ‘Exposure Draft’ for the Aged Care Financial and Prudential Standards 2025. In it the Federal Government crossed the line into retirement villages. See the wording...

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Chris Baynes

04 Mar 2025

Opinion

Good news for our sector and older Australians – quality executives leading advocacy at the right time

Looking forward, the retirement living sector is set for both great times and very dangerous times. Public opinion and demand for our products will be strong, but we will also be susceptible to bad news – and there will be bad news. Regular...

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Chris Baynes

25 Feb 2025

Opinion

Are you strategically prepared for the next 5 years given the macro changes rushing towards us?

I have been reporting on the retirement living, home care and residential aged care sectors for 20 years. The future has never been as uncertain as today. With the first wave of Baby Boomers turning 80 this year, demand for ageing service will jump...

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Chris Baynes

18 Feb 2025

Opinion

Village operators will need home tech and possibly private 5G sooner than they think

Last week James Wiltshire and I were invited by the leadership of the big Not for Profit operator Warrigal, spread across the Illawarra and ACT, to strategically discuss the future of retirement villages. We emphasized that their future will require...

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Chris Baynes

11 Feb 2025

Opinion

Village operators on alert

The excerpt above from an article that caught my eye on Saturday is telling. There is still a large amount of work required to explain the value proposition, contracts and costs of moving into a retirement village. The writer, retired Professor Ross...

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Ian Horswill

03 Feb 2025