The conversations of life

Over 1,000 retirement villages are now registered for Code of Conduct – is your village signed up?

1

The voluntary Code – which came in on 1 January 2020 – covers all aspects of a resident’s experience in a retirement community – from signing the contract to life in the village and leaving– and it has real teeth.

Dr Elizabeth Lanyon is heading up the Code’s independent Review Panel after spending 15 years in the Victorian Government’s Department of Justice – and will monitor compliance with the Code and oversee its complaints register.

If a village breaches the Code, village operators must rectify the issue and in more serious cases, must have to appoint an independent auditor to audit the areas where the breaches took place.

Severe breaches can result in the breach being publicly reported on the Code website – so residents can be confident that their operator will be held to account if problems do occur.

Ben Myers, the Executive Director for Retirement Living at the Property Council, said people thinking of making the move to a retirement community should ask if their potential future home is signed up to the Code.

“A retirement community that signs up for the Code is demonstrating its commitment to high standards across its accommodation, services, management, sales and marketing,” he said.

Reassuring news for both residents and their families.

Lauren is a journalist for villages.com.au, agedcare101 and The Donaldson Sisters. Growing up in a big family in small town communities, she has always had a love for the written word, joining her local library at the age of six months. With over eight years' experience in writing and editing, she is a keen follower of news and current affairs with a nose for a good story.


Discussion1 Comment

Leave A Reply