City of Mandurah v Australian Flying Corps & Royal Australian Air Force Association (WA Division) Inc

(2016) 50 WAR 466; [2016] WASCA 185

Western Australia Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Charity
2. › Charitable purposes
3. › Relief of the aged
4. › Retirement village
5. › Whether accommodation and services must be subsidised
6. › Whether public benefit requires services not generally available in community
7. › Statute of Charitable Uses 1601 (Imp), 43 Eliz 1, c 4
1. Local Government
2. › Rates and rating
3. › Rateable land
4. › Exemption for land used exclusively for charitable purposes
5. › Retirement village operated on not-for-profit basis
6. › Whether land exempt from rates
7. › Local Government Act 1995 (WA), s 6.26(2)(g)
1. Appeal
2. › Appeal on question of law from State Administrative Tribunal
3. › Nature of jurisdiction
4. › Original not appellate jurisdiction
5. › Proceedings in nature of judicial review
6. › State Administrative Tribunal Act 2004 (WA), s 105

Quick Take

A retirement village operated by a non-profit organisation for aged persons is capable of being used for the charitable purpose of 'relief of the aged' even where residents pay the full cost of accommodation and services, provided the entity is non-profit and the costs are not so great as to exclude all but the very wealthy. There is no legal requirement that the accommodation be subsidised, be of a kind not generally available in the community, or be for the benefit of the community 'as a whole' as distinct from the established public benefit test. This applies to rating exemptions under s 6.26(2)(g) of the Local Government Act 1995 (WA) and potentially to analogous charitable purpose provisions in other statutes.