With 47 aged care, home care, retirement living and land lease leaders on stage, LEADERS SUMMIT 2025 in the Hyatt Regency, Sydney, had its sold out audience captivated from the beginning to the end of the two-day event.
Here is the event in pictures:
DCM Group CEO Chris Baynes launched the 2025 SUMMIT with a bold discussion and critical review of each sector.
Ian Yates AM, the former Acting Inspector-General of Aged Care, was next and sat down with Chris to discuss how the sector can change the ageing system.
StewartBrown Senior Partner Grant Corderoy assessed the winners and losers of the new Aged Care Act and why retirement village operators will be impacted.
Anne McCormack, CEO of mecwacare and Sanmeet Bhatia, Cognizant Vice President - Public Sector and Health (Asia Pacific/Japan) spoke on their partnership on the implementation of a $20 million investment in technology at its Victorian aged care homes.
Time for a networking barista coffee break.
Daniel Gannon (right), Retirement Living Council Executive Director, and Tom Symondson (left), CEO of Ageing Australia, talked to DCM Group CEO Chris Baynes about the issues and strategies that matter to the respective peak bodies.
Ansell Strategic Managing Director Cam Ansell looked at where the aged care, retirement living and home care sectors sit now and predicted what will happen in the future.
Emma Cornwell (middle), Executive General Manager - Health Service, Australian Unity, and Bev Smith, Chief Commercial Officer, Amplar Health, spoke separately about their respective models and then sat down with questions from DCM Group CEO Chris Baynes.
LDK Seniors' Living CEO Byron Cannon on the virtues of a Village Membership model over the traditional DMF used by most retirement village operators.
Commonwealth Bank's Belinda Allen (pictured right), Senior Economist (Executive Director), and Chris McCann, Head of Health and Social Infrastructure, Major Client Group, told the audience about the Trump Factor and how it may impact on the economy and capital.
The Networking Lunch at the Hyatt Regency was packed but there was time for a magician to entertain the participants.
DCM Institute Executive Director James Wiltshire leads a retirement living break-out session with Aaron Lavell, CEO of Odyssey Lifestyle Care Communities, and Byron Cannon, CEO of LDK Seniors' Living.
DCM Group CEO Chris Baynes hosted a breakout session with Phil Offer, CEO of BESTMED, and Bev Smith, Chief Commercial Officer at Amplar Health.
Jim Hazel (left), Director of Omega Communities and former Chair of Ingenia Communities, speaks on whether to acquire or build a retirement village, with Mark Fay, CEO of IPLiving, Hugo Dudley-Smith, Managing Director at Gresham Partners, Jolyon Good OAM, CEO of Good Constructions and DCM Group CEO Chris Baynes.
From left, Annette Hili, General Manager, ANZ at AlayaCare; Ian Yates OAM, consultant and former Acting Inspector-General of Aged Care; Therese Adami, Chief Communities Officer, HCS Managaement Support at Catholic Healthcare; and Norbert Walther, CEO of Kinyara Health.
From left: Cynthia Payne, Managing Director & Founder at Anchor Excellence; Tim Humphries, CEO of Homestyle Aged Care; Diana Horvatovic, CEO of St Basil's Aged Care NSW/ACT and Cameron McPherson, CEO of Medical & Aged Care Group, in a breakout session on insights from a mid-sized operator. Can they survive?
From left: Sally Taylor, Managing Director at Retirement by Moran; Charles Moore, CEO of BaptistCare; Cameron Holland, Director - Primary Care & Investment for Amplar Health; and Steven Strange, Director at SIMUL Health, on the breakout session on how retirement living will evolve.
The afternoon networking barista coffee break was once again filled with participants.
Hugo Dudley-Smith, Managing Director at Gresham Partners, has his finger on the pulse of mergers and acquisitions in the ageing sector.
IPLiving CEO Mark Fay and Peter Inge OAM, Executive Chair, on why the Inge family have returned to the retirement living sector.
Stuart Hutcheon, Managing Partner at StewartBrown, on its inaugural Retirement Living Performance Survey, closes the first day.
Day 2 began with Cameron Holland, Director - Primary Care & Investment with Medibank-owned Amplar Health, on what aged care might look like in the future given the rapidly ageing population and development of new technologies such as virtual care and AI.
Next up was Adrian Puljich, CEO of GemLife, on the lessons of his 15 years designing and building land lease communities and the start of pocket parks and vertical communities.
The last speakers before morning tea were Will Egan (above left), CEO of Ausmed, and Esther Monks (right), Industry Advisor: Healthcare with Workday, on how AI has the potential to build workforces. competencies at speed.
Attendees took the opportunity to network during the break for morning tea.
Then it was back into it with MinterEllison Partners Tammy Berghofer (above left), Penelope Eden (centre) and Deanna McMaster (right) providing an overview of the increased reach of laws relating to retirement living, home care, and residential aged care.
Tamra Bridges, Executive Director East Coast with Silverchain, on how providers can ensure home care is not only viable, but can deliver for consumers as a cornerstone of the healthcare system.
Mark Langdon, CEO of Prospecta Utilities, spoke on the importance of energy, telecommunications and connectivity.
And before lunch, Patrick Abolakian, Director at HYECORP Property Group, spoke of his family's experiences building Hyegrove Willoughby as first-time retirement village developers.
In the first session after lunch, Peter Inge OAM, Executive Chair of $300 million village growth fund IPLiving, led one of his legendary and hugely popular 'hypothetical' panels.
The panel consisted of (left to right above) Dr Linda Mellors, CEO of Regis Aged Care; Bianca Tulich, Managing Director of retirement living and aged care developer Tulich; Tony Massaro, Partner KordaMentha; David Moran, CEO of Southern Cross Care (SA & NT), Sally Taylor, Managing Director of Retirement by Moran, and Daniel Gannon, Executive Director of the Retirement Living Council.
Peter had LEADERS SUMMIT attendees in stitches asking the panel to share their 'hypothetical' plans for aged care and retirement living in 2035, solving various moral and reputational dilemmas along the way.
DCM Group Executive Director James Wiltshire then introduced Dr Bryan Tan, Chief Health Officer Salesforce, who appeared via video and spoke about how the Customer Relationship Management software is using AI.
The last guest speaker of the day was Melanie Valdes, Regional Director of Not For Profit Health at Salesforce, who held the audience spellbound with her personal story of how AI helped her regain her independence after she experienced a stroke at 40 years of age.
Chris closed the conference by calling on the sector think about where it wants to be in five years' time, and the best way to get there, and go to Government with well thought through solutions.
