In good news for current and prospective village residents across the country, the first retirement villages have been awarded Australian Retirement Village Accreditation Scheme (ARVAS) accreditation.
The scheme was introduced two years ago to create a single accreditation scheme for the village sector, but has been delayed by COVID-19.
Accredited villages must meet a range of criteria, including seven quality areas:
- Standard 1 – Community Management
- Standard 2 – Human Resource Management
- Standard 3 – Resident Entry & Exit
- Standard 4 – Resident Engagement & Feedback
- Standard 5 – Community Environment, Services & Facilities
- Standard 6 – Safety & Security
- Standard 7 – Resident Care
ARVAS is co-owned by the Property Council of Australia and Leading Age Services Australia (LASA) and is operated on their behalf by Quality Innovation Performance Limited (QIP), an experienced Not For Profit provider of independent accreditation services.
The villages receiving their first accreditation under ARVAS are Cardinia Waters (Pakenham, Victoria) and Anglicare villages including Wollondilly Gardens (Goulburn, NSW), Brindabella Court (Downer, ACT) and St David’s Close (Red Hill, ACT).
A big bonus
Manny Vella, Village Manager of Cardinia Waters, said the accreditation was a big bonus for their retirement village.
“Overall, the village has embraced the whole accreditation process from our Residents Committee to our volunteers and the village staffing team, all supporting the process,” he said.
“You always think your village is performing to the best standards but the process just confirms many aspects of what villages really need to do. We knew that our village was on the front foot in tackling the accreditation process and this gave us real incentive to be one of the first in the country to complete the work involved in achieving this milestone.”
Organisations wishing to apply for accreditation under ARVAS must be an active subscriber to the Retirement Living Code of Conduct (the Code).
Almost 700 villages across the country are now registered for the Code and it is estimated that over 50 per cent of Australian village residents are residing in a Code-compliant community.
If you live in a village – or are looking at moving into one – why not ask if they are Code-compliant?
