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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-03-05 Daily Xml
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RETIREMENT VILLAGES

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:46): First of all, I would just like to acknowledge that, this week, we celebrate 101 years of International Women's Day—I think that is on Friday. Also, the local International Women's Day Committee that organises the lunch, I am told, is 75 years old this week, so it is quite a milestone in South Australia.

In early 2000, I met with the now past president of the South Australian Retirement Villages Association Inc., Joan Stone, who forecasted the need for refocusing on the retirement village industry. This has been echoed by the current South Australian Retirement Villages Association.

I deliberately use the word 'industry' as the retirement village accommodation area has now changed considerably, particularly over the last 2½ decades. We have gone from mainly not-for-profit charitable church villages to house, in the main, widows and the vulnerable to, in many cases, big business, big developers, resort-style living and overseas investors. Many of the current players in the retirement village area are now big developers with a responsibility to shareholders to make a profit.

The 1987 Retirement Villages Act talks about providing a balance between the rights and responsibilities of residents of retirement villages and administering authorities of retirement villages. While I have heard from constituents—both residents and owners—in the metropolitan area, particularly in the retirement villages area, I am also told that these issues are being mirrored in country areas.

Some of the issues that have been raised with me are the need for expanded consumer protection and the use of plain English and clear contracts. I do not know what happened to the plain English debate, but I think we should bring it back in a whole lot of areas—certainly in this one—and maybe there needs to be standard contracts in the retirement village area. I do not know if anyone has seen a retirement village contract, but sometimes it can be anything up to 90 pages, so I think that that obviously needs to be looked at.

The need to access legal advice has also been raised with me, particularly with regard to residents looking at these huge contracts and recognising the fact that there is quite often an unequal bargaining position for residents, as opposed to the people who run not all but some of these retirement villages.

There are questions raised about the charges for supply services, maintenance, and remarketing costs, and this is a really big issue not only for people who go into retirement villages but also for the people who get left to move out of those facilities, whether it be family or people who are benefitting from the estate of the residents in the retirement village. With capital equipment replacement funds, most of these are uncapped, and I have seen some amazing differences in the arrangements that are put in place with regard to capital item replacement.

Also, there are questions about the need for transparency and accountability in management costs and, also, that old chestnut, the resident's right to be consulted about major things that happen in their retirement village in their location. There is also the issue of exit fees, and very simple things like the rectification of building faults and maintenance—just getting things fixed. A number of constituents have talked to me about the frustration that they have had in trying to get things fixed. There are also the issues of dispute resolution, mediation prior to tribunal hearings and the need for the regulations to be updated.

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