Federal Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones says he wants to stamp out bad behaviour by retirement village operators following an ABC investigation that revealed 'legalised financial abuse of the elderly' is rife.
Life got so bad for 90-year-old Maurine Moore at her home in a retirement village in Melbourne that she contemplated suicide.They have told of huge exit fees , mammoth costs to refurbish and renovate villas for sale and complained of being kept in the dark by village management in the multi-billion-dollar sector.
"We will consider the best pathway forward in consultation with the states. We want all Australians to retire with dignity." The 90-year-old was living in a Pinnacle Living retirement village in Melbourne and was left with $343,000 after the retirement village deducted more than $100,000 in fees, which was less than the $490,000 she paid for it in 2009, while houses in the same suburb rose 150 per cent.Ms York welcomed the meeting of the states but said it was important to have consistent protections for residents.
But the reform push in Victoria has been stalled for years and neither its or SA's proposed new laws deal with exit fees, which can rip hundreds of thousands of dollars from retirees and their families. Independent South Australian MP Rebekha Sharkie has been pushing Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones to crack down on the sector for 18 months.The industry's own peak body, the Retirement Living Council, wants its code of conduct made mandatory. It denied there were any systemic issues. It said there had been only 55 complaints in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal in 2023.
"The sad reality is politicians don't understand retirement villages or what's happening in this area, they think they do but they don't."In one case looked at by the ABC, the deferred management fee reached 60 per cent of the amount reaped when the villa was re-sold. "We recognise some residents have signed contracts and entered retirement villages which may have included contract provisions and exit calculations that may not have been clear and transparent at the time of signing," the spokesperson said.
Retirement Villages Aged Care Elder Abuse Corposatised Accused Exit Fees
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