For the first time ever, the Retirement Village Residents Association in each state has agreed to run a national survey following the claims raised recently by the ABC’s 7.30 program.

“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 of the NSW RVRA, 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.

The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete, and is completely anonymous.

Click here to access the survey: RVRA National Survey 2024

The Retirement Village Residents Association has already received 2,000 responses, but is seeking more to ensure the findings have credibility.

Roger Pallant (right) with Retirement Living Council Executive Director Daniel Gannon.

The responses will then be analysed by an independent expert data analyst and a final report prepared with the information to be used to better understand residents’ experiences when shifting into a retirement village.

“We believe this is an important initiative that will allow us to provide information at the national and state-by-state levels,” said Roger.

“The results will be made available to operators of retirement villages for them to review their current practices and make improvements if appropriate. The RVRAs will use the data to review the education and information services they provide to their members and to make recommendations for broader sector improvement.”

The final survey report will be available in December 2024 at www.rvra.org.au.