Signs suggest Village Operators ‘get’ the assignment

This was a comment made to me by an Operator in Western Australia. One that gets the brief. With a significant presence across aged care, Support at Home and retirement living, they see the full continuum.

They also understand their customer. Older Australians who do not want to leave their retirement village community. Who want to age in place for as long as possible. That is no longer an aspiration. It is the sector’s norm.

They have built a model around supported independence. As residents age, independence evolves. The need for care increases. The question is not whether support will be required, but who will deliver it.

If the average retirement village resident is 81, and the average Support at Home recipient is 81, the maths is not theoretical. It is already sitting inside the village gates.

Still, 32% is a precise number. One worth testing.

This operator knows exactly where their Support at Home clients live. They know where their villages are located. They have deliberately overlaid both data sets to measure penetration within their own communities.

Consider the economics. An operator with 1,000 Independent Living Units delivering an average Support at Home package of $30,000 per year to 32% of residents is generating $9.6 million per annum in government funding to support residents in their village homes.

They also track the gaps. Across their portfolio, 3–4% of residents receive Support at Home from external providers. That is not viewed simply as lost revenue. It is measured through the lens of continuity of care, risk management and customer experience. Penetration rates are a KPI for senior executives and Village Managers alike.

The commercial impact follows. That 3–4% represents approximately $1 million in additional annual revenue if retained internally.

And this is not isolated. A large national provider recently shared that their measured penetration of Support at Home within their retirement villages sits just over 35%.

As we travel the country for our Professional Development Days discussing Support at Home and its implications for Village Professionals, one pattern is emerging.

The most sophisticated operators are not waiting for the shift. They are structuring for it.

They get the assignment: own the customer journey.

The future of retirement living is not independent versus dependent. It is integrated.

Those who recognise that are already building the next revenue stream inside the front gate.