Many retirement village residents have reported to me that the options currently available under the Retirement Villages Act 2012 to resolve disputes with big retirement village operators are not fit for purpose.

Despite being the first port of call for when a dispute arises, the internal retirement village disputes committee often fails to generate tangible outcomes for residents since the decision is not binding.

If a resident subsequently chooses to escalate the matter to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) or the ACT Supreme Court for enforcement, they often find themselves bogged down in a costly, arduous, administrative nightmare. As a result, very few seniors pursue the justice they deserve and give up altogether.

This isn’t good enough. Residents of retirement villages deserve access to a binding and enforceable mechanism to resolve disputes with these massive multi-national businesses.

To address these issues, the motion I moved today called on the ACT Government to:

• investigate the establishment of an ACT retirement villages ombudsman that is non-adversarial and accessible with the power to make binding decisions to resolve disputes between a resident of a retirement village and the operator of the village, and
• advocate for the federal government to establish a national retirement villages and aged care ombudsman to further support and advocate for the rights of older people.

I think the ACT Government should always do more to support vulnerable residents. In recent times there has been a focus on renters, and while this is important, I want the large number of Canberrans who live in retirement villages to know that we’ve got their back too.

I appreciate that my Assembly colleagues joined me today in supporting a renewed focus on the complex issues facing retirement village residents. I look forward to reviewing the findings of the ACT Government’s investigation by the end of September 2023.