David Feeney (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Justice) Share this | Hansard source

I begin by thanking the member for Lalor for putting forward this motion on retirement villages. In June, Australia was shocked by revelations on the Four Corners program concerning the mistreatment of residents in retirement villages. The retirement village that particularly featured in that program, Veronica Gardens, is located in my electorate of Batman. The mistreatment of residents there has been deeply upsetting to them and has appalled the broader community, and we cannot let this continue.

One of the most horrifying cases is that of Gwyneth Jones, who was forcibly admitted to psychiatric care after repeated run-ins with management at Veronica Gardens. Freedom of information documents show a plan to have her evicted that pre-dates her admission to the hospital. It was only with the assistance of disability advocates that she was able to stop the eviction and receive an apology from the company. It is utterly unacceptable that Gwyneth has had to put her physical and mental wellbeing at stake in pursuing fair treatment from the management body of her own retirement village.

Immediately following the Four Corners program, I had a meeting with residents at Veronica Gardens, and I thanked the residents there for speaking with me honestly and openly about the misconduct and mistreatment they had endured at the hands of Aveo. Residents also voiced their concerns over issues such as complex and confusing contracts, excessive exit fees and the practice of churning residents.

With a growing older demographic, in particular those who are not home owners, low-income households and older residents with high-care needs, housing stock is not keeping up with demand. The current retirement village industry and regulations are not flexible enough to meet the changing needs of our ageing population, who are often moving into these places with the expectation of their social and physical needs being met. Sadly, that is often not the case. It is imperative to have a national approach to regulate the retirement village industry, especially with respect to contract agreements.

It has long been the Labor Party's passion to stand up for the marginalised. Residents in retirement villages like Veronica Gardens deserve our attention and support. As older Australians, they have made great contributions to their society. They deserve to spend their golden years with security and dignity and in quality care. They should not be left stranded in situations like this, where predatory practices are constantly looming over their place of residence and their secure retirement.

As consumers, their rights should be recognised and protected. I join my colleagues in calling on the government to immediately adopt a national approach, making nationally consistent retirement village legislation with stronger consumer protections a national priority. I was delighted on Thursday of last week to meet with the Minister for Aged Care, Ken Wyatt, to discuss how I can work with him to make sure that these priorities are achieved. I am calling on the government to review retirement living contracts, in particular to pursue four objectives: firstly, to support nationally consistent retirement village legislation in contracts, including body corporate and management service contracts; secondly, to ensure transparent easy-to-read contracts; thirdly, for there to be an industry code of conduct; and, fourthly, for there to be efficient, cost-efficient and effective dispute resolution processes, such as an ombudsman, so that people living in these residences can make complaints and receive the treatment they deserve.

It's also important for the retirement living sector to have certainty and consistency in its regulatory environment, so that it can support the choices of older Australians while maintaining its own reputation as a decent and law-abiding industry working in the interests of their consumers and our citizens—older Australians. It's time to act.

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