Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) the number of older Australians choosing to live in retirement villages is increasing faster than any other age-specific housing option;

(b) the revelations in the recent Four Corners program that appeared to show older Australians being exploited were shocking;

(c) many older Australians are finding it difficult to deal with the complex and confusing contracts offered to them by retirement village management;

(d) the excessive exit fees and practices used by retirement village companies when older Australians decide to leave a retirement village are unacceptable; and

(e) older Australians should not be exploited; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) commit to a national approach for the regulation of retirement living facilities; and

(b) adopt consistency on retirement village contracts, with stronger consumer protections.

I am pleased to move this motion today to support retirees across the country. Clearly, there is an issue in our retirement village communities where people are feeling very unhappy about the treatment they are receiving once they move into retirement villages and, certainly, very unhappy about the contractual arrangements they find themselves in and the penalties that they are paying on leaving a retirement village. This was highlighted by the ABC Four Corners episode on 26 June, which focused on a company called Aveo. That episode clearly demonstrated that this is a national issue and that state-by-state legislation may not be the best way forward in this space to protect our retirees.

I was inspired to raise this motion after hearing the horror story of Christine and David Robinson in my electorate. Their negative retirement community experience is not an isolated one and speaks to a broader issue that demands national attention and action. Christine and David made the decision to move into the Point Cook retirement village at Point Cook, which comes under the umbrella of Retirement Communities Australia, which has two such places in my electorate. They took this decision after David had a quadruple bypass. They were promised a life of leisure and a peaceful retirement. However, when they got there the reality was much bleaker: phones didn't work, toilets were overflowing and the amenities were rarely in service. Their supposed retirement haven became a retirement nightmare. They were so dismayed and uncomfortable that they did what most of us would do in that situation: they tried to leave. That was when their problem became a genuine source of stress and frustration, and, like many across the country, they want something done about this.

From the time they tried to leave the village, it took them 16 months to get out of their contract. When it came to selling their property, they weren't allowed to advertise or go through their own agent. Because this was a new retirement village, the owners directed potential buyers to new units, while Christine and David were left paying maintenance fees. When they did end up selling the home, the aged-care provider took $46,000. The property was allegedly sold for $340,000, and they received $294,000. I've seen the letter they received to convey this information. It lists two separate deductions from the sales price, both listed as 'departure payment', but it in no way explains why those charges had been levied. To this day, the Robinsons have not been able to get a thorough explanation of the two fees.

Just imagine dealing with this nightmare scenario while recovering from major surgery—a quadruple bypass, which, having lived that experience myself with my partner, I know can be a six-month recovery. It was a nightmare for this couple. They came to see me in my office accompanied by someone from the Victorian Consumer Action Law Centre, who have been looking into this space for some time. I acknowledge the work they've been doing in Victoria, their recommendations to a Victorian inquiry and their passion about making sure that we in the federal parliament address this issue and come up with a national solution, because that's what we need. I also spoke to the member for Batman, who has similar issues. Aveo are operating in his electorate, and he has constituents with very similar concerns.

The other concerning thing that Christine shared with me is the number of people whom I know personally who have gone into retirement villages and have subsequently left, finding them not to be the ideal place they thought they were going to be. They are people who, for the most part, have worked very hard on their superannuation balances, and my concern in this space is that there is a bit of a honey pot happening here. People are seeing superannuation funds and are attracting people in through what can sometimes be 100-page contracts. People are getting into these places and are then finding that they are not happy and are having to leave again. The people that I'm talking about are people I would consider to be very bright and very competent. If they are being drawn into this, I pity people who are not so competent.

I welcome this being put on the COAG agenda for 31 August. I would encourage the Minister for Aged Care, Ken Wyatt, the member for Hasluck, to ensure that we get a national solution at that meeting to protect retirees across this country from people seeking to put their hands in retirees' pockets.

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