Flood relief at hand as RVA members offer assistance to affected residents and villages

The RVA has appealed for members to offer support and assistance to the residents of evacuated retirement villages due to the floods in Queensland.

Amazing acts of kindness and generosity have been displayed by some RVA members who have come forward to offer their support to flood affected villages and residents. The RVA wants to inform its flood-affected village members that there is plenty of support available and to take up the offers of support.

The RVA is proud of its partnership with JLT VillageWISE, who unlike a lot of other insurers, are taking steps to protect their customers affected by the floods and ensure they receive the best possible service during this difficult time.

They want to remind their existing customers that as flood is automatically covered by the VillageWISE programme, they strongly recommend that if anyone has been affected by this catastrophe to please contact their office on 08 9426 0431 as soon as possible. VillageWISE can also assist in the relocation of residents and any associated costs.

This is particularly important as there will be a shortage of services and supplies therefore the sooner they can process claims, the faster it’s likely to be resolved.

BurnsBridge Sweett has been working in the retirement living sector for almost 25 years and provides clients with strategic advice, cost management (quantity surveying) and project management for their capital investments.

They are very sensitive to the challenges currently facing the retirement sector in Queensland and appreciate that where re-accommodating residents is concerned, there is no time to lose in getting stuck into the re-building effort.

They are available to provide the sector their knowledge and experience in disaster recovery work and can assist members in a range of areas including financial analysis, redevelopment cost assessments and strategic management advice.

They have project managers, cost planners and strategic advisors on-hand to assist. Please contact Russ Wood, Regional Director, BurnsBridge Sweett, 0422 94 94 08 or russ.wood@burnsbridgesweett.com.

Peter Nilsson has reported that his 900 residents at The Village Glen in Rosebud on the Victorian Mornington Peninsular raised $38,131.00 in one week to donate to flood victims.

The South Brisbane office of ThomsonAdsett had some flooding to its lower level. But that hasn’t stopped them offering assistance to clients who have been affected by flooding.  ThomsonAdsett would like to offer their assistance with any architectural advice. If you have any immediate concerns, please contact David Frost on 0407 150 524 or email d.frost@thomsonadsett.com.

The current floods have not affected Live Life Villages  in Queensland and can provide accommodation support to others in need. Free supported accommodation is available at Brookland Village at Robertson, Samford Grove or Maleny Grove to seniors who have had to evacuate their homes, whilst they remain inaccessible. Please call Live Life Villages on 1300 55 65 75.

Live Life Villages have also held fund raising morning teas at each of their villages to help raise much needed funds for the flood victims. The next morning tea date is:

• Maleny Grove – Tuesday February 1 at 10am

Churches of Christ Care has community care services in most of the south-east corner of Queensland. Should any residents require care provision and support, please contact Jeanette Evans on 07 3327 1614 or email Jeanette.Evans@cofcqld.com.au

The CORE Architecture and Grey Space teams have been discussing how they can best help their local and regional flood-affected establishments, many of which may have been under water in the most recent rains and floods. 

Prior to getting residents and staff back into their villages, many buildings will be wet, dirty and damaged and that the fit out will need to be promptly checked, work assessed and trades co-ordinated. The CORE Architecture and Grey Space organisations have offered to respond to their clients and potential clients to allocate an experienced architectural staff member to go to any sites to help get them back up and running. 

Propell can also sympathise with those affected by this tragic floods as their office at Milton was inundated oast the first floor.

Propell has a number of highly qualified valuers and quantity surveyors (QS) on staff throughout the country.

Their QS staff can provide affected persons with services to manage the process and quality of the rebuilding task. Their QS services include the following, which can be tailored to the client’s requirements:

• insurance claim assessments i.e. price, scope and cost
• claims administration
• project management
• cost planning, tender analysis priced bills of quantities
• maintenance Reserve Fund (MRF) and Capital Replacement Fund (CRF)

Should any members require immediate assistance, please do not hesitate to contact Brad Hooper on 0411 073 503.

Kawana Island retirement village have been active with assisting in the flood recovery in several ways.

They opened an appeal where several cash donations have already been received and have  delivered one truck load to the Ipswich show grounds evacuation centre with an additional truck load to place in the coming weeks. 

They have assisted with the clean up efforts in Brisbane and Ipswich and welcome some fit energetic older folk to assist them. 

Kawana Island also plan to stage monthly concerts to raise further funds  and Living Choice have honoured their residents who have worked very hard in assisting with the goods appeal.

If your business has been involved in assisting with the flood recovery efforts or can offer special services, please contact Genell on genell@rva.com.au. 

ENDS

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Productivity Commission report acknowledges industry’s role in providing accommodation for senior Australians

The Productivity Commission (PC) has released its Draft Report, Caring for Older Australians, which makes several recommendations relating to the retirement village industry.

The report has taken into account the integral part the retirement village industry plays in providing accommodation for older Australians and acknowledged the importance and necessity of the industry’s accreditation program.

Even the crisis-ridden aged care industry is gearing up for a funding overhaul, with experts calling for at least an extra $1 billion to be injected into the sector. The Productivity Commission may now tackle the issue of individual financial contributions to nursing home care, including in the form of accommodation bonds, which to date has remained largely off the agenda.

The Commission has recommended the following relating to retirement villages that are of great interest to the future of our industry, including but not limited to the following:

1. The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) should develop a strategic policy framework for ensuring that sufficient housing is available that would cost effectively meet the demands of an ageing population.
2. The regulation of retirement villages and other retirement specific living options should remain the responsibility of state and territory governments, and should not be aligned with the regulation of aged care.
3. State and territory governments should pursue nationally consistent retirement village legislation under the aegis of the Council of Australian Governments. Changes to state and territory government legislation under this process should:

• be informed by research jointly commissioned by the industry and government
• have regard to the industry’s accreditation process

RVA CEO, Andrew Giles praised the work and consultative approach of the Productivity Commission, which met with the RVA and its members on a number of occasions during the review.  In particular the Commission’s acknowledgement of the industry’s Accreditation Program is a strong recognition of the standards and quality that RVA members aspire to.

“We believe the recommendations put forward concerning the retirement village industry acknowledges the essential component of housing that villages provide and will ensure a long term viable future for the industry as it plays an integral part in supporting and accommodating senior Australians,” said  Mr Giles.

“We are particularly appreciative of the acknowledgement the Commission has paid to our Accreditation program in recommending that the industry’s accreditation process is given due regard in the adoption of any nationally consistent legislation,” said Mr Giles.

The RVA will be undertaking an extensive review of the report and providing further submissions ahead of the 21 March deadline at which time the Commission will prepare its final report.

The RVA would like to thank all the members from the industry who contributed to our initial submission and looks forward to working with the industry in preparing a submission in response to the draft report.

For a full copy of the draft report click here.

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Resident bodies go national

Residents across Australia will be represented by a national body after state presidents of each resident’s association met in Brisbane recently to form the Australian Retirement Village Residents Association (ARVRA).

ARVRA’s objectives is to provide a voice for all retirement village residents in Australia; liaise with nation-wide seniors’ and retirement village organisations such as COTA, National Seniors; provide policy input to Commonwealth and State Government departments and agencies; and facilitate the sharing of information between states and the development of appropriate policies.

The body was formed in response to growing links between the state-controlled retirement villages industry and the federally-controlled aged care sector.

The RVA invited the state association presidents as guests at the national conference in Brisbane last year. They used the opportunity to form the national body, which mean residents can have a united input into industry moves towards developing national accreditation standards.

The new group will liaise with other seniors’ and retirement village organisations and provide policy input to Commonwealth and State Government departments.

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RVA offers assistance to evacuated residents of Queensland floods

The RVA is appealing to member villages to offer any support and assistance to the residents of evacuated retirement villages due to the floods in Queensland.

It’s with great sadness that Australia is witnessing the devastation of the Queensland floods. As the situation looks to get worse over the next few days, the RVA and the Queensland Committee have offered their assistance to any residents of RVA member villages to help re-locate those who are to be evacuated.

Many RVA Queensland village members have already been in contact with their local councils to offer assistance. One such member village has been in contact with their local council and is coordinating the names of people that can assist in housing flood victims. 

Two other RVA villages has also offered to provide meals and services to seniors needing accommodation and are more than happy to assist with any relocation of residents from other villages.

The RVA requests that members who are available to help other residents in need to please inform Genell Kokokiris so assistance can be provided where required.

For a list of RVA member villages providing assistance to affected village residents, please contact Genell on 0420 307 448 or email genell@rva.com.au. 

The RVA sincerely hope that its members’ family and friends stay safe through this crisis and the situation improves very soon.

ENDS

The RVA welcomes your feedback on this story and encourages you to leave a comment. You can submit your comment at the bottom of this post.

RVA take the lead in Retirement Villages Act Review

An RVA working party has been established to consult with the newly elected government who are reviewing the Retirement Villages Act in Victoria.  

Representatives from Australian Unity, Russell Kennedy, Minter Ellison Lawyers, Becton and the Village Glen (Rosebud) will provide advice to Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) about the review of the Act and put forward recommendations to address specific issues and any uncertainties in the current regulatory framework.

With the cyclic nature of government reviews of the various state Acts, the RVA is committed to representing the industry in key issues regarding long term sustainability that will deliver affordable and high quality village environments for older people.

At this stage, no formal terms of reference for the review have been established.

However, the RVA has been proactive to ensure it leads this process, rather than waiting for changes to be proposed by the government and then having to respond.

The RVA’s key position on a number of items so far is as follows:

• Overlap between the Retirement Villages Act and Owners Corporation Act (OC Act) – The working group believes that retirement villages should be exempt from the OC Act to remove current confusion around the overlap of each Act.  Any specific issues that require clarification can be explored as part of the review.
• CPI cap for maintenance changes - The working group believes the current Act may be misleading for potential residents that budget for services fees not increasing beyond CPI when exemptions (rate, utilities etc) are applicable that can greatly affect this assumption.  The RVA will advocate that the cap should either be removed or exempt items identified in disclosure documents.
• Definition of maintenance – the current Victorian Act is better than New South Wales or Queensland Acts regarding maintenance where significant issues and confusion exist.
• The RVA will monitor and propose prescribed terms for residential agreements.
• The RVA will develop a draft Disclosure Statement framework to provide to Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) as a best practice example for the industry. 

The RVA has consulted with members through a forum held in December 2010 and will provide a discussion paper for comment prior to circulation to Consumer Affairs.

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ABS report predicts demographic forecasts for 2031

An Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report has predicted that by 2031, the majority of older people aged 85 years and over will live independently in their own home.

The report estimates more people aged over 85 years old will live in retirement villages, hostels and nursing homes, although the percentage of older people in this group will decline over the next 20 years. 

The report also estimated that there will be an increase in the number of older single person households, as well as a rise in live-in baby boomer couples.

Almost two-thirds of the increase in single person households between 2006 and 2031, is projected to be among people aged 60 years and over.

In 2006, the peak age for people living alone was 55–59 years. In 2031, this is projected to have shifted to 80–84 years.

Women at aged 60 and over are estimated to drive the growth in single person households, with a projected growth rate of 2.8 per cent per year. There will be 1.1 million older women living alone in 2031, representing over three-fifths of the number of older people living alone.

The report explained that the increase in the number of woman living on their own as being mostly due to widowhood.

However, the senior economic adviser for Deloitte, Henry Ergas, expects that, in the future, the duration of widowhood will shrink.

“The gap in life expectancy between men and women is declining and as a result the number of years a woman spends as a widow is declining,” said Mr Ergas.

“For example, if you go back to the 1970s, a woman might expect to have 10 years of widowhood. By the end of this decade probably, the gap may be down to two years.”

Mr Ergas predicts that, as the population ages and the number of women aged over 60 increases, the total number of widows will also rise. This, he said, could explain the ABS’ prediction of a growth in the number of older single-person households.

“You will physically be dealing with people getting to widowhood later, as well as shorter periods of time spent as a widow because of the difference in the life expectancy between men and women.”

The RVA will continue to work with the Federal Government to look at ways that the retirement village industry can provide solutions to these issues, ensuring that appropriate housing is supplied for our ageing population. 

“It would be terrible to see single, older women isolated in their large four bedroom homes with limited support. This would also reduce access to this type of housing for younger families because it would cause more problems on housing affordability nationally,” said RVA CEO Andrew Giles. 

“I am confident that dialog with key industry stakeholders and the government can find sustainable and long term solutions that address many of the issues identified in the ABS report,” said Mr Giles.

ABS report originally published in Australian Ageing Agenda.

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The RVA welcomes your feedback on this story and encourages you to leave a comment. You can submit your comment at the bottom of this post.