More than 2,000 Village Residents have their say on Support at Home – More invited

Earlier this week we received a call from Roger Pallant, President of the NSW Retirement Village Residents’ Association.

He was keen to inform us that more than 2,000 residents living in retirement villages across Australia have responded to the National Resident Survey on Support at Home. With more invited.

Roger tells us that residents are engaged on this topic with many experiencing firsthand the growing pressure around aged care access, assessments and support services.

Last week, The Weekly Source reported on the inaugural Aged Care Act 2024 Wait Times Report, which laid bare the scale of delays currently facing older Australians.

The report found the average wait time between applying through My Aged Care and receiving services was 360 days across the five-month period from 1 November 2025 to 31 March 2026.

For Support at Home specifically, older Australians waited an average of 364 days, or 12 months, from application to receiving services.

The figures for residential aged care were even longer, with wait times averaging 396 days for ongoing residential care and 434 days for short-term residential care.

For many residents living in retirement villages, these delays are not abstract policy discussions. They directly impact independence, wellbeing and confidence in the broader aged care system.

That is why this survey matters.

The initiative, coordinated by the Retirement Village Residents’ Associations across the country, is designed to better understand what residents are actually experiencing as the Support at Home program continues to roll out.

The survey asks residents to share:

• Where they are in their Support at Home journey
• Whether they are receiving the services they need
• Delays, challenges or additional costs they are experiencing
• How these changes are impacting their ability to live independently

Importantly, the Retirement Village Residents‘ Associations have decided to keep the survey open for a few more weeks to encourage even greater participation from villages across the country.

This is where you can play an important role.

We encourage operators, Village Managers and resident-facing teams to share this article and the survey link with residents and Residents’ Committees. The stronger the participation, the stronger the evidence base becomes when advocating for improvements to the system.

The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete and responses are anonymous.