Tania Maxwell MP has thanked Wangaratta’s Les Scobie for his tireless work to reform Victoria’s retirement village laws and improve residents’ protection and safety.
The Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party Member for Northern Victoria said the state government’s draft legislation to amend the 36-year-old Retirement Villages Act included 12 of 16 recommendations put forward by Mr Scobie.
“Among them is a requirement for all retirement village operators in Victoria to maintain emergency evacuation plans,” Ms Maxwell said.
“This was a vital issue that Mr Scobie set out in his submission to a Legislative Council Legal and Social Issues Committee inquiry into Victoria’s retirement housing sector in 2016.
“He noted that in the past some village operators ‘made it very clear to village residents that in their view they had zero responsibility to residents in the case of an emergency or evacuation’.
“This inquiry reported to Parliament in March 2017. It’s taken the state government almost six years to consider that report, commission a review of current legislation and release a draft amendment bill that does – to its credit – propose important changes.
“These should, for the most part, better protect the interests of retirement village residents.
“But it’s so disappointing that advocates like Mr Scobie and advocacy organisations like Residents of Retirement Villages Victoria have been given just 21 days this month to comment on the draft bill before the government enters the caretaker period ahead of the November 26 election.
“I’ve advocated with retirement village residents since 2019 for legislative reform in response to the Legislative Council committee inquiry and concerns across the sector about dispute resolution, transparency of village operator disclosures to residents and emergency plans.
“In four years as an MP I’ve used constituency questions, questions without notice, and adjournment speeches to press the government to act.
“And when it has, on October 8, it effectively cuts residents off at the knees by setting an impractical deadline of October 28 for comment.
“It’s neither fair nor just, especially for residents in many Northern Victorian communities affected by floods.
“I’ll be asking the next government to extend the time for comment, because these are important reforms affecting a large number of people and it’s only fair that they are given proper time to have their say.”
Mr Scobie said retirement village law reforms were badly needed and welcome.
“The bill will be an improvement when it passes Parliament, but it does not solve all the problems,” he said.
“Sadly the Andrews government gave village residents just 21 days to comment on complex reforms to complex law.
“For many residents like those in Wangaratta the new proposed time limit for a village operator to repay exit entitlements to a resident will actually go from six out to 12 months. That’s hardly positive.
“What’s welcome is that emergency evacuation plans will become mandatory, Consumer Affairs’ powers will be strengthened, and a new body will be established to handle disputes up to a value of $100,000 between residents and retirement village operators.”
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Les Scobie with Tania Maxwell MP at The Terrace, the retirement village operated by Respect in Wangaratta, which also operates neighbouring St John’s aged care.
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Major reforms detailed in the government’s draft Retirement Villages Act Amendment Bill 2022 include:
- strengthening protections for residents around exit fees
- defining retirement village operators’ obligations to their communities
- giving residents more freedom to alter or renovate their units
- introducing a mandatory time limit for exit entitlements to be paid back to residents
- clarifying how operators must calculate and disclose fees and calculations to residents
- standardising contracts and requiring use of plain language
- proposing that certain terms – like charging a resident for an undisclosed fee in the village’s information statement – could be banned from contracts
- strengthening dispute resolution processes
- requiring operators to collect and report information about complaints and disputes to Consumer Affairs Victoria
Go to https://engage.vic.gov.au/retirementvillagesact for more information
