At our May PD Day around the country, we asked our legal partners in each state to walk us through the laws and regulations around the exiting a resident from retirement village.
It was universally recognised as a regrettable objective, and one not attempted lightly.
It was explained that there does exist pathways through tribunals and outside experts say in the realm of dementia, but at the end of the day in every state it was acknowledged that there is no failsafe way to achieve the exit.
Firstly, the many months to years it takes to go through a tribunal makes this a rarely attempted route. With behaviour that is dangerous or negative to the overall ability of residents to lead a quiet and unsettled existence, there is little that can be implemented to expedite a departure.
In other words, it is a task of negotiation, mediation and persistence with the resident or their family to achieve the exit.
This is far from satisfactory for village residents, their families and the operator staff. But this is the fact that remains.