In November 2018, then-Retirement Living Council President and CEO of RetireAustralia, Alison Quinn (pictured), said the final draft Retirement Living Code of Conduct had now been endorsed by the RLC members and operators were expected to sign up and comply.
The Code of Conduct had one job, to rebuild trust in the retirement village sector, following the devastating ABC Four Corners program in June 2017.
Alison stated village operators would be able to sign up from January 2019 and have 12 months to adjust their business and ‘comply’.
The RLC would also be asking each state government to mandate the Code of Conduct.
But operators did not sign up, as sales returned and the Four Corners program grew distant.
So it is not a surprise that the fact that just 30% of the 700+ village operators had committed to the Code was a central, repeated fact, in the recent ABC 7.30 program and social media.
And it is not just the RLC members that have failed to take up the Code. Check out the dedicated website to see that ACCPA endorses the Code as well:
Alison was clearly frustrated at the little progress made at repositioning the sector.
At the 12 month mark to comply, in January 2019, Alison Quinn stepped down as the CEO of RetireAustralia; she took the trouble to say in her parting words:
“We have done the right things to aid the sector” and “the main challenge now is getting that good work done recognised by those outside of the sector – only the residents understand. We need a better loud hailer”.
It is now November 2024, nearly five years later. Alison is a Director of Oak Tree Retirement Villages, owned by Aware Super, and Uniting Care Queensland; one Not For Profit and one private. Both are members of the Code of Conduct.
Now is the time every village joins the Code of Conduct if the sector indeed wishes to deliver ‘quality you can trust’!
One of the five core objectives of the Code is stated as:
Generating industry leadership to promote effective self-regulation that complements and builds on existing regulatory arrangements
If operators can’t be bothered, or find the Code too imposing on their freer performance, can the sector position itself as a leader and capable of ‘effective self- regulation’?
Both the RLC and ACCPA (now Ageing Australia) are responsible for the Code of Conduct. Now is the time for them to show their industry leadership. Otherwise the sector will remain built on sand.
