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New Year means new opportunities for the village sector

2020 was one hell of a year, thanks largely to COVID-19. The good news is the sector responded in a way we should all be very proud of.

We hope the festive season was kind to your community, your team and yourself. And to our colleagues and communities impacted by the COVID outbreaks that were in lockdown over this period, please know our thoughts were with you.

Encouragingly though, interest in retirement living remains high.

In fact, data from our sister company Villages.com.au shows interest is in fact up 9% from the same time last year.

Over 4,000 people searched for a village on Monday alone!

The sector should be buoyed by this, and ready to hit the ground running.

While we don’t have a crystal ball, we at the DCM Institute believe 2021 will offer a range of opportunities including:

  • Operators further enhancing learnings and innovations developed thanks to COVID in 2020, working with residents
  • Royal Commission to outline and promote benefits of retirement living sector
  • DCM Institute continuing to expand tools and support, and aim for best practice operations across the nation

It is indeed an exciting time to be in retirement living.

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Key things to help you everyday Latest industry developments

Royal Commission spells out 2021/22 retirement village strategy

Those of you who have been following the Royal Commission into Aged Care will be aware that the Commissioner’s Final Report, and the much-awaited recommendations, are due. 

And the opportunities for retirement villages are exciting. 

The Counsel Assisting Recommendations from last November call for both the federal and state governments – at Cabinet level – to support what is essentially the retirement village model.

In particular, we’ve been interested by paragraphs 165 to 170 at the beginning of their 450-page report. These paragraphs state:

A key element of the strategy should be about encouraging older Australians to take active steps to preserve and maintain their own health and wellbeing in later life, with the Government supporting people to take the first step.

There should be an integrated system for long term support and care of older people and their ongoing engagement with the rest of the community.

This requires the involvement of all levels of government and establishing linkages between aged care and other relevant domains, such as:

  1. the broader health sector and welfare and community services
  2. affordable and age-appropriate housing

Such a system should be the focus of a National Cabinet Reform Committee on Ageing and Older Australians.

It adds: The State and Territory governments have a critical role to play.

As you can see, a case could be made for the Royal Commission endorsing villages as a solution for ageing well.

The Final Report is released on 26 February.

If retirement villages are recognised and endorsed as a solution for ageing well, the world can be a very different place for village professionals, and most importantly our residents.

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Key things to help you everyday

DCM Institute committed to supporting the sector in 2021

At the DCM Institute, we are committed to supporting both new and experienced retirement living professionals in your journey. We look forward to continuing to provide professional development activities that will reinforce knowledge, enlighten and stimulate different ways of thinking. 

In 2021 we plan to focus on key topics, including:

  • Sales
  • Marketing
  • Valuations
  • Insurance
  • Asset Management

We will support many of our participants as you navigate the changing legislation and help you better understand the benefits of engaging in the national accreditation scheme.

We will continue to offer topics via our Knowledge Centre Portal and webinars for those in regional areas or those that like short bursts of learning.

We will also strive to engage with the sector and return to some form of face-to-face engagement throughout the year, restrictions allowing.

Help us help you in 2021 

To finish our first edition for the new year, we thought we’d put a call out to our members to let us know what else they want to learn about in 2021.

Consultation and engagement have always been key to what we’ve done at the DCMI Institute.

So, feel free to click the link below or reply to this email, and let us know about topics you would like to know more about or see discussed in the newsletter during 2021.

We’re always keen to hear from you.