2016-02-23
Motion in parliament to establish an inquiry into retirement housing: Colleen Hartland - By leave, I move in an amended form:
That, pursuant to sessional order 6, this house requires the legal and social issues committee to inquire into, consider and report, no later than 1 March 2017, on the operation and regulation of the retirement housing sector (including retirement villages, caravan parks, residential parks and independent living units) with the aim of identifying opportunities for improvement and reform and, in particular, the committee should consider—
(1) existing legislation that relates to retirement housing, in particular recommendations for reform of retirement housing legislation to ensure it—
(a) reflects the diversity of retirement housing types;
(b) includes proper consumer protections, dispute resolution procedures, fair pricing, and consistent, simplified management standards and regulations across the sector; and
(c) has a focus on dignity, respect, appropriate care and quality of life for retirees;
(2) comparable reviews and recommendations for reform in other Australian and overseas jurisdictions;
(3) the experiences and views of residents of retirement housing and their families and retirement housing owners and managers; and
(4) the option to appoint a retirement housing ombudsman.
Quality, affordable retirement housing is incredibly important to ensure older people feel comfortable and confident in their housing as they age. Retirement housing refers to a range of housing options including not-for-profit and private residential villages, caravan parks, residential parks and independent living units.
Retirement housing can be an affordable, supportive, secure housing option for older people. Unfortunately many people have had the opposite experience, and I am sure many people have been in contact with members over the past few weeks with their incredibly difficult stories.
Many retirees are being ripped off by their retirement housing. They have been burdened with unfair costs and bad treatment. Currently the various retirement housing types such as caravan parks, independent living units, residential parks and retirement villages are governed by complex and inadequate regulation and can be mismanaged. Contracts can be complicated and include technicalities and unspecified costs. They can be almost impossible for a lay person to decipher. This has meant some older people have lost their life savings, have been locked in to a contract or ended up homeless. Further, there is a lack of clear and accessible dispute resolution avenues, which leaves older people feeling bullied with nowhere to go. The sector suffers from underregulation and insufficient consumer protections.
We need legislative reform so that retirement housing contracts are standardised and simplified and there can be no hidden or unspecified costs. We need fair contracts and proper consumer protections, not just consumer awareness. It is all very well for a retiree to be aware of the risks, if indeed the consumer awareness campaign actually reaches that person, but it is another thing to properly understand a standard legal contract and to foresee technicalities that can lead to massive hidden costs. People entering into these contracts are not business people or legal experts and many cannot afford proper legal advice. It is a dark corner of the housing market that desperately needs light shed on it, which is why the Greens have introduced this motion for inquiry today. Having attended a forum last year that all parties attended with, I think, about 80 consumers and organisations, it was quite clear that this was an issue that had very good bipartisan support, that all parties understood the difficulties and that all parties had at some stage been visited by people in very, very difficult circumstances.
Many consumer groups have been calling for this inquiry. I particularly want to give credit to the Consumer Action Law Centre and the Housing for the Aged Action Group for their incredible work. I want to thank all of those residents who have written or come to see me and other politicians for raising awareness of the need for this inquiry and advocating for reform on behalf of many residents who are not in a position to speak publicly about their experiences. This inquiry will give individuals, community organisations, housing agencies and managers and owners of these facilities an opportunity to share their experiences and their perspectives. It should report and make recommendations for reform of current laws to ensure they reflect the diversity of retirement housing types and include proper consumer protections, dispute resolution procedures, fair pricing and consistent and simplified management standards and regulations across the sector. The inquiry should also consider the need for a retirement housing ombudsman who can deal with disputes and order agencies or individuals to take certain lines of action and so on.
I hope and anticipate that this motion will receive full support from all sides of Parliament, as clearly during the forum last year there was very good support for the suggestion that we needed to do something. All politicians have heard the stories. We know what the problem is and we need to get on with this inquiry so we can actually look at the way we can reform and standardise legislation to protect older people in their retirement housing.
This motion was passed and an inquiry established.