Southern Cross Care (WA) has seen 58 new residents into its seven retirement villages, six within Perth and its Donovan Village in Forrestfield, a suburb of the City of Kalamunda, 15km southeast of Western Australia's capital city.
With the state's Retirement Villages Act 1992 (WA) 2024 being passed in November last year, the Not For Profit said in its annual report 2023-2024 that it was prepared for amendments.
Under the changes, operators will have to pay a resident’s exit entitlements within 12 months of leaving a village and there are better-defined obligations and responsibilities regarding village maintenance and capital improvements.
"We have sought to build a robust refurbishment and sales program to ensure all our villa leases are on sold within 12 months," stated the report.
"We have developed refurbishment, maintenance, and asset replacement plans for all villages with the aim of presenting villas in a contemporary way, maximising the return for the outgoing family and providing incoming residents with a well-presented home. We currently have a waitlist on all villages which puts us in a strong position to support our outgoing and incoming residents through the sales process.
"We remain focused on creating communities where our residents feel supported, socially connected, and consulted in the decisions that impact their daily lives. Engaging with our residents, we have expanded our activities program and increased community involvement in garden maintenance, traffic safety, and other aspects of village life.
"This year, we improved our approach to gardening and engaged a new gardening contractor, Horizon West, to manage gardening tasks according to each village’s size and needs. Working closely with newly formed resident gardening groups, we strengthened the opportunity for residents to take an active role in enhancing their village gardens. Together they tour the grounds to highlight areas needing attention such as hedging, lawn care and planting."
Southern Cross Care (WA), chaired by Tony Vis and led by Chief Executive Officer Clare Grieveson, also has eight residential aged care homes throughout metropolitan Perth and regional WA .
The Not For Profit delivered an underlying operating surplus of $4.9 million (excluding revenues related to prior years and investment property year-end calculations) and generated cash flows from operating activities of $13.7 million, while investing $9 million in assets and continuing major development projects at Currambine and Ridgewood. The re-leasing of 41 independent living units within the year generated $3.9 million in cash receipts.
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