Protecting your interests
The primary purpose of the Act is to protect the interests of residents and intending residents.
It achieves this by:
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Compulsory registration of each retirement village
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Appointment of a statutory supervisor to oversee the operations of each registered retirement village are lawful
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Registration of a memorial against the title to all of the retirement village land, ensuring the village cannot be wound up without consent of the residents
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Requiring the operator and a resident to enter into a detailed occupation right agreement spelling out each party's rights and obligations
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Requiring a detailed disclosure regime and mandatory independent legal advice for all intending residents before they sign an occupation right agreement agreeing to become residents
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Providing a Code of Practice establishing minimum operating standards for every village
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Providing a Code of Residents' Rights with minimum rights of every resident in a village
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Establishing an extensive two-tiered complaints and disputes resolution procedure
Four key disclosure documents
Intending residents must discuss four key disclosure documents with a lawyer who is experienced with current retirement village practice before signing up to become a resident. Find more information about getting legal advice here.
The key documents are:
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Disclosure statement
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Occupation right agreement
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Code of Practice
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Code of Residents' Rights
From time to time operators amend their standard occupation right agreement or disclosure statement. It is possible a new resident will have some terms in its documents different from residents who have been in the village a lot longer.
You can see the most recent amended documents for a village by searching the Retirement Villages Registry.