Retirees need more independent information to be happy with their housing choices, say advocates. Photo: File.
The ACT election and recent media revelations about the retirement village industry have prompted a renewed push for a consumer star rating system so potential residents can make more discerning choices on where to spend their golden years.
Independents for Canberra lead candidate in Yerrabi Sneha KC has backed the establishment of a ratings system, while Chief Minister Andrew Barr said he was open to the idea but it would need to be structured properly so it could be a trusted source of information.
The ACT Retirement Villages Residents Association has been pushing for a star rating system, arguing there is a dearth of trustworthy information about villages.
It has been talking to government about how it can be achieved but there is resistance from the industry and the property council whose members operate villages.
They question whether there is a need and what purpose it will serve given low vacancy rates, high resident satisfaction rates and high affordability, according to the latest PwC Property Council Retirement Census.
Operators also have concerns about accuracy, currency, independence, cost and administration.
Mr Barr said on Wednesday that it made sense to provide consumers with more information and he would look forward to talking further with the association on options for a star rating system.
“The issue, of course, with rating systems is that there needs to be trust in the ratings themselves and how they are derived,” he said.
“But the concept is one that I think people are quite familiar with, in terms of their own personal research on consumption of many different products and services. But we just need to ensure we can structure it and have an administrative and design structure for ratings that people then had faith in.”
Ms KC, a nurse with personal experience of caring for seniors, said they deserved better transparency when choosing where to live.
She said families were navigating a confusing landscape without clear, comparable information.
“We have already seen the benefits of a star rating system in residential aged care facilities,” Ms KC said. “Families can easily compare homes based on factors like staffing, safety and resident satisfaction.
“This transparency has driven improvements in aged care and empowered seniors and their families to make informed choices.”
Ms KC said the Australian Retirement Village Accreditation Scheme (ARVAS) might show if a village met certain benchmarks but did not provide a comparative view of the living environment, amenities or residents’ satisfaction.
“That’s the gap a star rating system will fill,” she said.
A pilot program could test if the criteria were clear and relevant.
“Beyond safety and staffing, the ratings should reflect quality of life factors like social support, mental wellbeing and community engagement, which determine the quality of residents’ day-to-day lives,” Ms KC said.
The star rating system was one of a number of ideas put forward to the ACT Government’s Working Group on retirement villages late last year. But considered a major reform, regulatory differences between the aged care centres and retirement villages meant they were not regarded as comparable.
The Justice and Community Safety Directorate is doing some work on the broader issue of whether more regulation can better empower residents in making these decisions and will await the priorities of the incoming government after 19 October.
Loading ...
