Retirement Villages Act 2012

The operator of a retirement village commits an offence if the operator uses a capital works fund amount for a purpose other than any of the following:

to meet the cost of capital maintenance;

if the residents of the village consent to a proposal that the operator distribute any part of the fund that is not required to fund capital maintenance to the residents in equal shares—to give effect to that proposal;

for a purpose prescribed by regulation.

An offence against this section is a strict liability offence.

A proposal mentioned in subsection (1) (b) may be made by the operator or the residents committee.

If the residents consent to a proposal made by the residents committee under subsection (1) (b), the operator may apply to the ACAT for an order that—

the distribution is not to be made; or

approves or amends the proposed distribution.

In making an order under subsection (4), the ACAT may consider the following:

the proportion of the capital works fund proposed to be distributed;

whether the proportion of the capital works fund proposed to be distributed is reasonably likely to be required to fund capital maintenance;

anything else the ACAT considers appropriate.