Since 30 July 2017 the NSW government has been working towards a four-point plan for retirement villages in NSW.

This plan included commissioning an independently chaired Inquiry into the sector.

The Inquiry, chaired by Ms Kathryn Greiner AO, provided its final report to government on 15 December 2017, making 17 recommendations for improvements to the sector.

One recommendation was that the government increase transparency around the maintenance of village assets by considering implementing reforms to require operators to develop an asset register.

This was established through the Retirement Villages Amendment Act 2018 (the Amendment Act) which requires village operators to prepare and keep up-to-date, an asset management plan for the village’s major items of capital and, to make the plan available to current and prospective residents to increase transparency.

The plan includes information to be recorded including:

• costs associated with maintaining or replacing capital items
• why costs associated with maintaining or replacing capital items increase or decrease
• how often costs for capital items are incurred
• the expected lifespans of capital items and expected maintenance and replacement requirements

While NSW parliament passed the Amendment Act on 28 November 2018, in order to implement the majority of the Inquiry’s recommendations, it has not yet commenced.

The progression of this reform is to ensure transparency around maintenance and costs of villages’ assets and reducing “bill shock” for residents faced with unexpected costs on often limited incomes.

The Greiner report discussed this issue extensively and highlighted it as an area that demands change.

This reform also builds upon the other changes made under the Amendment Act to better protect retirement village residents and their families.

Next steps 

The NSW Government is now seeking feedback from the retirement villages sector and the community about how these commitments should be implemented in the Regulation.

This feedback will be used to help shape the reforms and ensure that they reflect the needs of residents and village operators.

The discussion paper outlines the general requirements for an asset management plan including provisions for maintenance, repair and replacement of assets and is now available for public consultation.

You can have your say here before 29 November, 2019.

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