1Short title
This Act may be cited as the Retirement Villages Act 1995.
Bills and explanatory statements from legislation.nt.gov.au; second reading speeches from the NT Parliamentary Record (Territory Stories). Links open the official source in a new tab.
Bill homepage (legislation.nt.gov.au)This Act may be cited as the Retirement Villages Act 1995.
This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by the
Administrator by notice in the Gazette.
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
administering authority, in relation to a retirement village, means the person by or on whose behalf the retirement village is administered and includes a person (other than a resident) who owns land within the village.
authorised officer means a person who is an authorised officer under the Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading Act 1990.
code means a code of practice prescribed under the Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading Act 1990 or this Act which relates to retirement villages.
Commissioner means the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs appointed under the Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading Act 1990.
premium means a payment (including a gift) made to the administering authority of a retirement village in consideration for, or in contemplation of, admission of the person by or on whose behalf the payment was made as a resident of the retirement village (including any such payment made for the purchase of a residential unit in the retirement village or for the purchase, issue or assignment of shares conferring a right to occupy any such residential unit) but does not include:
a payment excluded by the Regulations; and
a recurrent charge.
recurrent charge means an amount (including rent) payable by a resident to the administering authority of a retirement village on a recurrent basis.
Register means the Register within the meaning of the Land Title Act 2000.
registered means registered under the Land Title Act 2000.
residence contract means a contract, agreement, scheme or arrangement by which a person obtains the right to occupy residential premises in a retirement village, and may take the form of a lease or licence.
residence rules means the rules with which residents of a retirement village are expected by the administering authority to comply, but does not include any articles or by-laws (to which the residents are subject) in force under the Unit Titles Act 1975.
resident, in relation to a retirement village, means a person who occupies residential premises in a retirement village under a residence contract, and includes a person who occupies such premises and who is or was a spouse or de facto partner of such a person.
residential premises means any premises or part of premises (including any land occupied with the premises) used or intended to be used as a place of residence.
retired person means a person who has attained the age of 55 years or retired from full-time employment or a person who is or was a spouse or de facto partner of such a person.
retirement village means a complex containing residential premises (whether or not including hostel units) predominantly or exclusively occupied or intended to be predominantly or exclusively occupied by retired persons.
(2) For the purpose of determining whether a contract, agreement, scheme or arrangement is a residence contract it does not matter that the person granted the right of occupation is a corporation if the premises are used, or intended for use, as a residence by a natural person.
(3) For the purposes of the definition of administering authority, where land within a retirement village is the subject of title under the Unit Titles Act 1975 or Unit Title Schemes Act 2009, the body corporate established, or the corporation formed, for the land by that Act may be the administering authority of the retirement village.
(4) Where a corporation established under the Unit Titles Act 1975, or a body corporate formed under Unit Title Schemes Act 2009, is the administering authority of a retirement village, it:
(a) shall comply with the rules laid out in that Act in respect of the processes to be followed in making decisions as the administering authority; and
(b) may hold meetings required by this Act or a code relating to the retirement village in conjunction with meetings required under that Act.
In this Act, a reference to the Court means:
the Local Court; or
(b) where the jurisdictional limit of the Local Court is exceeded, the Supreme Court except where the parties consent in writing to the Local Court hearing and determining the proceedings.
(6) Land shall not be taken to be subdivided for the purposes of the Planning Act 1999 by the grant of a right to occupy residential premises in a retirement village under a residence contract.
This Act binds the Crown in right of the Territory and, in so far as the legislative power of the Legislative Assembly permits, the
Crown in all its other capacities.
Nothing in this Act renders the Crown liable to be prosecuted for an offence.
Subject to subsection (2), this Act applies to a retirement village to which a code applies, whether established before or after the commencement of this Act, and applies notwithstanding the terms of any contract, agreement, scheme or arrangement, whether made before or after the commencement of this Act.
The Minister may, by notice in writing, exempt a retirement village from all or specified provisions of this Act or any other Act for such period and subject to such conditions as the Minister thinks fit and specifies in the notice.
The functions of the Commissioner are:
(a) to investigate and carry out research into matters relating to or affecting retirement villages;
(b) to investigate and attempt to resolve complaints by residents and administering authorities of retirement villages and to take such action, including prosecution for any offence, as the Commissioner thinks appropriate;
(c) to distribute information about the services provided by the Commissioner and the Court in relation to residents of retirement villages and to promote awareness of the rights and responsibilities of residents and persons involved in the retirement village industry; and
(d) to investigate and report on any matters, or make inquiries in relation to any matters, referred to the Commissioner by the Minister or by the Court in connection with this Act.
(2) The Commissioner has power to do all things that are necessary or convenient to be done for or in connection with or incidental to the performance of his or her functions.
The Commissioner may, at the Commissioner's sole discretion, institute or defend proceedings before the Court for or on behalf of a resident of a retirement village.
If the Commissioner institutes or defends proceedings before the
Court on behalf of a resident of a retirement village:
the Commissioner shall have the conduct of those proceedings on behalf of the resident, may appear personally or by a legal practitioner or agent and may do all such things as are necessary or expedient to give effect to an order or a decision of the Court;
the Commissioner is liable to pay the costs (if any) of the resident; and
the resident is liable to pay any other amount that the Court orders the resident to pay.
The Commissioner may, in writing, delegate to a person, including the person from time to time holding, acting in or performing the duties of, an office, designation or position, any of the Commissioner's powers and functions under this Act, other than this power of delegation.
A delegation under subsection (1) does not prevent the exercise of a power or the performance of a function by the Commissioner.
No action or proceeding, criminal or civil, shall be commenced or lie against the Commissioner, a delegate of the Commissioner or any person acting for or on behalf of the Commissioner in respect of an act or thing done or omitted to be done in good faith for the purpose of executing this Act.
The Commissioner shall submit annually to the Minister a report on the operation of this Act during that year.
The Minister shall, within 6 sitting days of the Legislative
Assembly after receiving a report submitted under subsection (1), lay a copy of the report before the Assembly.
A report under subsection (1) may be included in a report prepared by the Commissioner under the Consumer Affairs and Fair
Trading Act 1990.
(1) A residence contract may be enforced against the administering authority, from time to time, of the retirement village.
(2) Where a premium is paid under a residence contract providing that it will be repaid in whole or in part on the happening of a contingency and the contingency occurs, the resident or a person claiming on behalf of the resident may recover the amount that is repayable as a debt from the administering authority, from time to time, of the retirement village.
(3) Proceedings will not lie against the owner of land within a retirement village for the enforcement of rights under subsection (1) or (2) unless:
(a) the owner is a party to the residence contract under which the premium is repayable;
(b) the owner is the sole administering authority of the retirement village; or
(c) an administering authority, other than the owner, has failed to satisfy an order of the Court given for the enforcement of those rights.
(4) The right of a resident to repayment of a premium, or part of a premium, is a charge on land within the retirement village other than:
a residential unit owned by a resident; or
(b) common property as defined in the Unit Titles Act 1975 or Unit Title Schemes Act 2009 in relation to subdivided land that is the retirement village.
(5) The charge referred to in subsection (4) is an overriding statutory charge within the meaning of the Land Title Act 2000.
A charge referred to in subsection (4) can only be enforced:
with the approval of the Court; and
(b) subject to any conditions to which the Court's approval is subject.
(7) In considering whether to give its approval under subsection (6), the Court shall have regard to the rights and interests of other residents of the retirement village who have charges on the land within the retirement village.
(8) Where the Court approves the enforcement of a charge under subsection (6), the charge may, subject to the conditions of the Court, be enforced in the same way as an overriding statutory charge registered under the Land Title Act 2000.
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