Residents unhappy with how they are being portrayed
For the first time, the Retirement Village Residents Association in each state have come together to investigate if the allegations made by the TV broadcasts and the associated bombardment on ABC Radio and social media channels have any validity.
“Recent media reports have raised questions about the terms and conditions associated with living in a retirement village, and how well residents understood their contract before they moved in. Aspects such as exit (or deferred management) fees have been raised as one particular area of concern,” said Roger Pallant, Vice President NSW RVRA (pictured below centre), on behalf of, and with approval of, all state RVRAs.
“The Retirement Village Residents Association (RVRA) in each state have combined forces to investigate the actual situation by asking the people, like you, who are living in retirement villages about their experience. We have created a survey which includes questions about why you shifted into your retirement village and how well you felt you understood the details of your contract when you signed it.”
Speaking at DCM Institute’s VILLAGE SUMMIT event in Brisbane last week, ARQRV President, Judy Mayfield (pictured above left), said “we are tired of the media portraying all residents in a retirement village as not being able to make their own decisions, that they obviously didn’t know what they were signing, that they’re being taken advantage of.”
“We thought that we would like to do a survey of residents without any operators involved in any way, so that we can go to the media and say, look, we as a Residents Association nationally have done this survey of our members of people living in retirement villages, and this is what they’re truly thinking.”
Judy’s views were echoed by the new President of Residents of Retirement Villages Victoria (RRVV), Helen Betros.
Speaking at VILLAGE SUMMIT in Melbourne, Helen said the associations are doing this in response to the reports by the national broadcaster.
“Amongst the associations, there was a feeling that whilst there was a level of truth in the issues, they were not representative,” Helen said.
“People were upset about the representation of older people, as a cohort, as being frail, elderly, somewhat demented and not savvy.”
The DCM Institute is proud to support this effort, recognising the importance of initiatives that that demonstrate collaboration between residents and operators.
Village Professionals from across the country are encouraged to share the link to the survey, which can be found here: RVRA National Survey 2024.
“The survey should take you less than 10 minutes to complete. There are no right or wrong answers – we just want to hear about your experiences. The survey is completely anonymous, and you cannot be identified from your responses,” Roger noted.
The DCM Institute will provide updates on the survey once the report has been released by the Residents’ Association.
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