Retirement village reforms are being implemented in stages over the coming years. This page contains a recording of a presentation delivered to residents, along with an edited transcript. It provides guidance on the staged implementation of the retirement village reforms.
Introduction
This information is general information about why the changes are being introduced and is not legal advice.
If you have specific queries about provisions in your contract, speak to your village manager in the first instance.
In some cases, legal and/or financial advice may be appropriate.
This video discusses:
- the changes affecting current residents.
- how the reforms will affect some village processes
- forms and information available.
- Consumer Protection’s compliance and enforcement approach.
The legislative framework
The old legislation had three layers of legislation:
- the Retirement Villages Act 1992
- the Retirement Villages Regulations of 1992
- the Retirement Villages Code, which sits under the Fair Trading Act.
There is now a new framework:
- the Retirement Villages Amendment Act
- the new Retirement Villages Regulations 2026 – which commenced 1 September 2026.
The new regulations replace the 1992 regulations.
The new regulations can be downloaded from the State Law Publisher website.
The Retirement Villages Code has now been repealed. The code is no longer needed because the important parts of it have been included in the new regulations.
Penalties have also been added where they are considered appropriate.
The reforms will be introduced in five stages over two years, giving industry time to make the changes needed to comply with the new laws.
What do the changes mean for current residents?
Some of the changes will affect you as a current resident, while others will only apply to prospective residents.
There are three main reforms that will affect you as a current resident.
- Mandatory exit entitlement payments and buybacks must be paid no later than 12 months from the 1 September 26. This requirement will apply even if your contract contains different terms.
- From the 1 December 26, if you do not share in any capital gain, you can only be asked to return your home to its former condition, less fair wear and tear when you move out. You cannot be required to pay for renovations if you don't share in a capital gain. This applies even if your contract says something different.
- From the 1 July 28, new rules about capital works will apply. Your contract cannot require you to use your regular village fees to pay for replacing capital items. Operators have and will continue to be encouraged to get legal advice on their contracts where necessary. Some of the key prospective requirements that will apply to new residents include new property condition report requirements and new disclosure requirements.
Stage 1: 1 September 2026
Mandatory exit entitlement payments
Operators must pay exit entitlements and complete buybacks of strata title properties within 12 months of you moving out, unless an earlier date applies.
There is a built-in transition period, meaning a resident who moved out of their home before the 1 September 26, must receive their exit entitlement or have their buyback completed no later than the 1 September 27.
From the 1 September, an operator must give you or an entitled person a statement showing how your exit entitlement has been worked out if you receive one, and this must be given at the time of payment.
Operators can use the Exit entitlement statement form on our website, as shown on the screen, or can design their own statement, provided it meets the requirements set out in the legislation.
Exit payment extension and exemptions
In exceptional circumstances, an operator required to pay exit entitlements or complete buybacks can apply to the commissioner for an extension of up to 12 months.
This relates to an exit entitlement or buyback to be paid to a single resident or an exemption of up to five years.
This is a blanket exemption from the requirement to pay all exit entitlements and complete buybacks.
The Commissioner can extend the deadline in some circumstances. This power helps protect other residents if an otherwise viable operator is at risk of financial failure. It also ensures an operator is not unfairly penalised if the sale of a resident's home is unreasonably delayed by the resident or someone acting on their behalf.
An exemption may be appropriate where the way a village operates or its contracts make it difficult for the operator to meet the requirements for paying exit entitlements or completing buybacks over time.
For both extension and exemption applications, the operator will apply to the Commissioner in the first instance rather than to SAT. This will allow applications to be considered more quickly and provide an accessible, low-cost process. The operator must apply for an extension or exemption. Residents who may be affected by the application will be invited to make a submission. The commissioner will consider these submissions before making a decision. If you or the operator are not satisfied by the outcome, either party can apply to SAT for a review of the decision.
Aged care payments
If you are eligible and have moved out of your home in a village, you can ask the operator to use up to 85% of your unpaid exit entitlement to help pay your daily accommodation payments for aged care.
This new provision is intended to make it easy for you to move into aged care and therefore is not subject to a financial means test.
You can make this request before you move into aged care or within 60 days of entering a facility.
You must use a form that is available on our website to make this request to your operator. When providing the form, you must also attach a statement from the aged care provider that details the value of the daily accommodation payment, how often it must be paid, and where it needs to be paid.
Operators must make the first daily accommodation payment within 28 days of receiving your form, provided that you are eligible, or if you haven't yet entered a care facility, 28 days after you do.
An operator is not required to make payments if you tell them to stop, if at least 85% of the exit entitlement has been paid, if the operator has an extension or exemption in place, or if you request them to contribute to payment of a Refundable Accommodation Deposit or a RAD.
DAP eligibility
You are able to check to see whether you are eligible on our website. You need to answer yes to four key criteria for your operator to be required to pay for your daily accommodation payment from your exit entitlement.
Firstly, you must be entitled to receive an exit entitlement. This rule doesn't apply if you live in a strata title property because you will receive proceeds from the sale of your home rather than an exit entitlement, or if you are renting your home.
Secondly, everyone must have permanently moved out of the home.
Thirdly, you must have either moved into aged care or have been approved to move into a facility.
And finally, you must have chosen to pay for your aged care as daily accommodation payments.
Your operator cannot be required to contribute to payment of any other aged care payment, such as a refundable accommodation payment from the exit entitlement.
If you can answer yes to all these criteria, you can require your operator to pay for your daily accommodation payment from your exit entitlement.
Finance and budgets
The new finance and budget processes have commenced. Most of these rules have been moved from the Retirement Villages Code into the new regulations.
Operators will still need to prepare and publish an annual budget for the village, as is currently the case.
Under the new rules, they must also consult with you on the draft budget. This means you will have an opportunity to provide input from the beginning of the budget process.
Operators must give you the opportunity to provide feedback, and they are required to take your feedback into consideration. However, you do not approve the budget.
Budgets must include an operating budget and capital maintenance and replacement budgets.
Operators must hold a new budget preparation meeting before the 1 May each year, and at least 30 days after giving notice of it to the residents committee, if there is one, or to all village residents.
On or before the day notice is given of the budget meetings, the operator must give all residents a copy of the full draft budget documents by email, via a resident portal, or by hard copy.
The operator must hold a budget finalization meeting by the 1 July each year, and at least 50 days after the budget preparation meeting. The operator must explain the proposed budgets and allow you to ask questions and provide feedback.
See the budget process flowchart.
Resident participation
So what hasn't changed? There are some parts of the legislation that have been transferred from the Retirement Villages Code into the amended act and the new regulations but haven't really changed.
Residents' participation is about resident participation in the running of a retirement village. This has moved from the code into new Part 3C of the act and Part 7 of the new regulations, but there are no substantive changes to the laws.
It is important to note that any special resolutions passed before commencement of the new legislation on the 1 September will apply after the new laws start.
Dispute resolution is not new, as it is currently covered in the code. From the 1 September, the village dispute resolution procedure in the code has been transferred to the new regulations, but it is substantively the same as it was in the code. Importantly, if you find yourself in a village dispute, you need to try and resolve the dispute using the village dispute resolution process before trying other alternatives, such as coming to consumer protection or going to the tribunal.
The key change that has been made is the commissioner can now compel parties to attend mediation, and parties must participate in good faith.
Mediation is generally a last resort when other attempts to try and resolve the dispute have failed.
Conduct rules for operators
Schedule three of the new regulations contains rules of conduct for operators.
There are some key requirements in the conduct rules for operators that your village manager and operator should have started working on for stage one.
Requirement for an elder abuse prevention strategy, which will need to be displayed centrally in the village and reviewed every two years.
Operators will need to keep a record of conflicts of interest that they or their staff may have. Operators are also required to disclose these records if you ask for them.
Operators need to also have documented policies and procedures for staff training and competencies required for key roles, such as the village manager and professional development, complaint handling, and dispute resolution, and they also need to make sure that staff are trained in these requirements.
They also need to make sure they have appropriate record-keeping practices in place for staff training and professional development.
Conduct rules for residents
There are seven new conduct rules for residents in the new regulations.
The conduct rules require residents to act respectfully in all forms of communication with everyone in the village, including the operator, village staff, and other residents.
Residents also need to respect the rights of others to peace, comfort, and privacy.
They must not harass, bully, or engage in disruptive behaviour, and all residents must comply with the residents' rules and strata bylaws if they apply, and they must take reasonable steps to ensure any guests they invite into the village also complies.
Stage 2: December 2026
Stage two of this staged implementation will commence from the 1 December 26.
The key provisions in this stage include new requirements for the modifications of retirement villages, new requirements in relation to reinstatement and/or renovation of a resident's former home, and a requirement to complete a property condition report before a resident begins living in a home and when they permanently vacate.
Village modifications
Modifications are any changes which involve expanding or reducing the size or green space of the village, any form of constructing, demolition, or changing the use of a building in the village, which can include residential premises, or changing amenities and services that are available in the village.
Information regarding modifications will be available on our website from the 1 December.
So when does a modification require your approval?
A proposed modification in your village will generally require resident approval if it's captured by the modification definition and is not prescribed or exempted, and if it impacts residents and then also results in additional costs to you.
Some examples might include:
- removing an entertainment area for residents to make way for more visitor parking, or
- taking away an optional hairdressing service that's been disclosed to residents.
Approval of a proposed modification generally doesn't require resident approval if :
- it was previously disclosed to all residents or is part of a staged development that has already been approved
- it doesn't reduce the range or quality of services and amenities and there is no extra cost to residents
- it's a service offered on a trial basis and not part of pre-disclosure documents, such as a two-month trial of a service offered by a third-party provider, such as a wood-fired pizza oven, subject to being financially viable
- a development approval application was lodged before the 1 December 2026.
Reinstatement and renovations
From the 1 December 26, there will be clear limits on what an operator can require a resident to do or pay for when they permanently leave their village.
We have two new definitions that have been inserted into the legislation to replace the former term refurbishment, which was in the code.
The new term reinstatement refers to reinstating the home to its former condition, allowing for fair wear and tear. Renovation is any additional improvement that goes above and beyond reinstatement.
Capital gain is also a new definition, and it is any increase between the ingoing contribution of the outgoing resident and the ingoing contribution of the incoming resident. This definition is required because of the obligation on you to contribute to renovation costs depends on you receiving a share of any increase in value due to that renovation work.
So when can you be required to pay for reinstatement and renovation?
As a resident, you can only be required to pay for reinstatement of your home if you did not return it to its former condition, fair wear and tear excluded, your contract provides that you must pay for reinstatement, and you agree on the costs of reinstatement with your operator, or as a last resort, the tribunal.
As a resident, you can only be required to contribute to the cost of renovation of your former home if the renovation is completed as per a renovation plan and you share in capital gain and the cost of your share of the renovation is proportionate to, to your share of the capital gain.
For example, if you share in 50% of the capital gain, you can't be asked to pay more than 50% of the renovation cost If you are not sure what your contract currently says in relation to renovation of your unit, speak with your operator.
It may need amending to comply with the new laws.
Property condition reports
From the 1 December 26, there will be a new requirement for the operator to provide a resident with a PCR within seven days of them moving into the village, which is the entry PCR, and another when they permanently vacate, which is the exit
PCR. When the resident moves out, the operator must inspect the home and prepare another PCR, the exit PCR. The report will then be used to determine what work is required for reinstatement, excepting fair wear and tear over that time.
This new requirement applies prospectively, so won't affect you as an existing resident.
Stage 3: July 2027
Now I will go through the changes that will occur in 2027.
Stage three of the reforms will commence from the 1 July 2027, with new disclosure and contract requirements affecting prospective residents.
There will be two new disclosure forms: The Community Arrangement Statement, or the CAS, and the Prospective Resident Information Statement, or PRIS, replacing the current disclosure documents. The new disclosure requirements are aimed at providing greater transparency, so prospective residents can make informed choices about retirement living options.
Disclosure documents
From the 1 July '27, operators will be required to prepare and publish a CAS.
The CAS provides prospective residents with information about services and amenities which are available to all village residents, and allows them to compare the features of different villages so they can make an informed decision about what is best for them.
The PRIS provides prospective residents with key information about their contractual and financial obligations once they have expressed interest in purchasing a specific unit or the right to occupy a specific unit.
Stage 4: 2028 Public register
Now I'll go through the changes that will occur in 2028.
Stage four of the reforms will commence in 2028 with the launch of a new public register of retirement villages in the first half of that year.
The retirement villages register will enable prospective residents to search and compare villages in the comfort of their own home and with family if they wish, before they approach a village and speak with a sales representative.
More information on the register will be provided in the lead up to 2028 when it is expected to be launched. Operators will be required to provide Consumer Protection with basic village information and a copy of their current community arrangement statement.
Stage 5: July 2028
The fifth and final stage of these reforms commences from the 1 July '28.
Every village will be required to have a five-year capital maintenance and replacement plan and a separate capital maintenance fund.
Capital works
There is a new section of the act that deals with responsibilities for capital items in a village, which is Part 3B.
Section 41 of that part defines some key terms.
Capital item is any building or structure in a village, except for anything that's owned by a resident, any common property or of a strata or community title complex, and any contents, fittings, and fixtures in a resident's home provided for their exclusive use and required to be maintained by them.
Capital maintenance is work carried out for the purpose of repairing or maintaining a capital item. Capital replacement is work carried out to replace a capital item with another one.
Operators will be required to maintain all capital items in a village to a reasonable condition. What is reasonable will consider the age and the prospective life of the item, and also the contributions that you as residents have made towards the cost of maintenance.
An operator may replace a capital item if it is not practical to maintain it going forward.
As capital works is the final stage, there's a lot more information that will become available on the website about this stage closer to the 1 July '28 when it commences.
Some of the key points to note, however, in terms of the capital maintenance and replacement plan, operators are required to consult with residents on the development of the plan through the budget process.
This will happen around March and April of 2028, depending on when your operator chooses to hold the budget meetings.
For the capital maintenance fund, the amount of money that should be in the capital maintenance fund will be informed by the plan that's developed.
If you as residents think there is too little or too much money in that fund, you can go to SAT. And in terms of capital replacement, residents cannot be required to contribute to capital replacement from their recurrent charges from the 1 July '28.
Compliance and enforcement
In terms of the approach to compliance and enforcement, the approach of implementing new legislation is generally education first.
By this, I mean that in the first few months of each stage of implementation, we will be looking to educate the industry to make sure the sector is actively working towards complying if they aren't already.
Compliance and enforcement will largely be reactive and complaint-driven.
However, we do have proactive compliance staff that visit villages on an ad hoc basis, and they do currently have a schedule in place to visit some villages in the metro area. As always, please ask questions and seek legal and financial advice if you think it's necessary.
Need help? Who to contact
If you need help or information or have questions about your contract, it is best to speak to your village manager or operator in the first instance.
Look at our website first, as the answer to your question may well be there. As we approach each stage of the reforms, more information will be made available on Retirement village law reforms page.
You can also contact Consumer Protection for assistance and subscribe to our bulletins.
Subscribe to our resident bulletins
More information
- Retirement villages law reform
- Moving into a retirement village - including types of villages and contracts and moving in fees
- Living in a retirement village - includes conduct rules, maintenance, committees, dispute resolution and living in fees
- Leaving a retirement village - includes exit entitlements, buybacks, moving into aged care and moving out fees
- Managing a retirement village - includes conduct rules, village budgets, extensions and exemptions for exit payments and closing a village
- Retirement village resources - forms and publications relating to retirement villages