The retirement living industry has officially launched a new industry code of conduct and is urging all retirement village operators to sign up over the next 12 months to demonstrate their commitment to high standards and resident satisfaction.
The Retirement Living Code of Conduct is the initiative of two peak industry bodies representing retirement living operators across Australia – the Retirement Living Council (which is part of the Property Council of Australia) and Leading Age Services Australia (LASA).
Ben Myers, Executive Director – Retirement Living at the Property Council of Australia, said, “The vision of the Retirement Living Code of Conduct is to promote and protect the independence, privacy, dignity, happiness, safety and security of retirement village residents.
“The code intends to create certainty and transparency around processes for moving into communities, living in communities including dispute resolution, and leaving a community. The code has been created to operate in conjunction with existing state and territory laws and regulations.
CarePage has been appointed the technology partner whereby all Retirement Village operators looking to subscribe to the Retirement Living Code of Conduct will be utilising CarePage’s technology.
CarePage technology is currently being utilised in hundreds of aged care/ retirement village services around the country and offers facility’s and consumers a real time analysis and insight into the inner workings of their service.
Myers, said “With approximately 2300 retirement villages across Australia accommodating residents, the Retirement Living Code of Conduct is critical to ensuring that the retirement living industry can provide current and future residents with an exceptional quality of service.”
Sean Rooney, CEO at LASA, said, “This Retirement Living Code of Conduct intends to set standards above and beyond statutory obligations.
“The code covers all aspects of a resident’s experience in a retirement community: from signing the contract to enter the community, their on-site experience of living in the retirement community, their decision to leave the community and then right through until the resident’s unit or apartment is re-sold.
“The code is vital for the industry to set high standards for the marketing, selling and operating retirement communities, to promote and protect the interests of residents, and provide a clear framework for resolving disputes should they arise.
“LASA commends this code to operators across the country, to help provide residents with peace of mind about the community they live in or are thinking of moving into.
The new code, which is scheduled to be rolled out from January 2019 and take full effect from 1 January 2020, has been finalised after an extensive 12-month development process including consultation with retirement village operators, residents and other interested stakeholders earlier this year.
From January 2019, all retirement village operators will be able to subscribe to the code at www.retirementlivingcode.com.au. To ensure signatories meet the code’s standards and that appropriate resources are in place to support the code’s administration, the code will operate in a transitional stage until 31 December 2019.
Retirement Village operators can visit www.retirementlivingcode.com.au now however and register their interest, and continue to be notified of updates.
From 1 January 2020, residents will be able to make a complaint against a code signatory if they believe their community is not meeting the code standards.
A copy of the Retirement Living Code of Conduct can be downloaded here.
