Our statement on retirement villages

Last updated:

Retirement villages operate differently to aged care facilities and may affect the services you receive from us.

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Funding and services in retirement villages

Retirement villages are governed by state and territory legislation. The Australian Government only funds and regulates aged care in both:

  • residential aged care facilities
  • home care packages provided in your own home.

As part of its Caring for Older Australians report, the Productivity Commission recommended that the regulation of retirement villages should remain the responsibility of state and territory governments.

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Our services in retirement villages

If you live in a retirement village, you may be eligible to receive services based on your assessed clinical need. We can offer you services such as:

For more information on all the services you can access, visit our page on services to help support you in the home.

Retirement village operators must comply with the approved provider responsibilities set out in the Aged Care Act 1997 and its related Principles.

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Complaints

If your retirement village provider fails to meet its responsibilities, you can contact the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. You can call on 1800 951 822, or visit the website.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission provides a free service and takes all complaints seriously. You can make a complaint openly, confidentially or anonymously. The Commission aims to:

  • resolve complaints for individual care recipients quickly and effectively
  • assist providers to improve the quality of their services.
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Contact and Locations

If you need further information or wish to raise concerns about the retirement villages in your state or territory, the following organisations can be contacted:

Queensland:

Office of Fair Trading
Ph: 13 74 68

New South Wales:

NSW Fair Trading
Ph: 13 32 20

Australian Capital Territory:

Access Canberra
Ph: 13 22 81

Tasmania:

Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading
Ph: 1300 65 44 99

Northern Territory:

Consumer Affairs NT
Ph: 1800 019 319

Western Australia:

Western Australian Department of Commerce
Ph: 1300 30 40 54

South Australia:

Office for the Ageing
Ph: (08) 8204 2420

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