Page 5343 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 16 November 2011
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With respect to the registration of retirement villages, this bill establishes processes for the registration of a retirement village in the ACT, ensuring that a village is only registered if it meets the requirements of this bill. In relation to the residence contract—the bedrock of the relationship between the retirement village operator and the retirement village resident—this bill establishes minimum standards for all such contracts. These minimum standards in no way prevent contracts from being entered into which contain terms more beneficial than the minimum standards set out in this bill.
This bill sets out information which needs to be provided in the residence contract as well as processes for amendments of residence contracts. In addition to this, this bill introduces settling-in and cooling-off periods during which residents can rescind or end their residence contracts, subject to the satisfaction of reasonable requirements. These provisions have received strong support in other jurisdictions and in the consultation that I have undertaken.
Regarding the release of information, this bill establishes a two-stage information disclosure program consisting of the general inquiry document and the public information document. The general inquiry document is the first stage of information supplied to persons considering moving into a retirement village. It sets out very basic information about the village to give prospective residents simple, easy to understand information to assist them in future investigations into whether retirement village living is for them and, if so, which village best meets their needs. A copy of this document must be given to a prospective resident when they request it or when they express an interest in the operator’s particular retirement village.
The second stage of the information program is the public information document. This document is a comprehensive statement of the facilities available at a particular village as well as information about living in that particular village. The public information document must be given to a person when that person expresses an interest in a particular unit in the village or if they request the document. The establishment of the public information document seeks to ensure that prospective residents understand all the pros and cons of living in a retirement village.
This is especially important, as I found during my consultation that prospective residents often misunderstood what their residence contract entitled them to. For example, prospective residents may erroneously believe that, if the retirement village that they look to live in has a nursing home or hostel collocated, residing in that retirement village gives them an entitlement to those facilities. This is not a right granted by a residence contract for a retirement village. I believe recent research by Dr Catherine Bridge has also found this was a common misconception.
This bill also introduces provisions designed to assist residents to access documents once they are living in the village as well as provisions which require an explanation of the requirements of the Aged Care Act 1997 where a retirement village operator is approved as a provider of residential care services and promotes these services.
In relation to measures to encourage fair trading in the retirement village industry, this bill creates a number of mechanisms to ensure fair trading in retirement villages.
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