Last Tuesday (10 December), the meeting of COAG was swayed that the States should stay responsible for retirement villages and new Federal regulations were not required.
The Federal Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, met with all State and Territory Consumer Affairs Ministers to consider the claims from the ABC’s Adele Ferguson and independent MP Rebekha Sharkie, who had aggressively advocated that retirement villages needed fresh oversight and RV contracts should be judged as investment contracts, requiring Federal administration via ASIC.
Both the oversight and ASIC concepts were rejected by State Ministers in the COAG meeting.
The Weekly SOURCE understands that various Ministers and bureaucrats confirmed this with the RLC’s Daniel Gannon last week immediately following the meeting.
Daniel had provided details of the recent significant ‘uplift’ in regulations around retirement villages to COAG for consideration.
“Facts are important. Most state and territory governments have driven and overseen significant consumer-focused legislative reforms in recent years, uplifting consumer protections and standards,” Daniel says.
“We’ve heard inaccurate claims over recent months about the retirement sector being ‘loosely regulated’ and suffering from ‘systemic issues’. These erroneous claims are not supported by evidence or facts.”
In a post-COAG communiqué, Stephen Jones, said:
“Ministers discussed consumer issues in retirement villages, strata schemes and practices in the real estate sector. They noted recent steps taken to uplift consumer protections across all three issues.
“Ministers agreed to report on progress throughout 2025 as they continue to identify opportunities for harmonisation and meaningful uplift in standards to protect consumers in these areas.”
Daniel has told The Weekly SOURCE: “This is not an ‘us vs them’ industry. It is a sector that works closely and constructively with residents and their families, and with governments to ensure legislative frameworks meet consumer expectations.”
The RLC presented COAG Consumer Affairs Ministers with the facts on resident actions:
“In 2023, there were just 55 complaints to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal about retirement villages by the 66,000 people living in NSW communities (0.08 per cent). Some of these complaints were made by operators.
“In other states and territories, the complaint rate is less than 0.38 per cent.”
“The RLC and broader industry welcomes the commitment from states to stay in charge of a sector that is providing better housing that leads to better health outcomes for older Australians,” says Daniel.
In his communication with Stephen Jones and other Ministers, Daniel stated: “We’re excited and energised by the opportunities ahead of the sector and feel enormous pride for the work we do in creating a better future for Australians in the later stages of their lives.”
The RLC says it will continue to engage with State Ministers to ensure balance between operators and residents in State-based reforms.
