Retirement Villages Act 2016

This

Act may be cited as the Retirement

Villages Act 2016.

The objects of this Act are—

annual meeting of residents means the meeting required to be convened in accordance with section 33(1)(b);

authorised officer—see section 14;

bailiff means a bailiff appointed under the South

Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013;

business day means any day except a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday;

capital fund means a contingency, sinking or other reserve fund or account established for the purposes of capital replacement or improvements, long‑term maintenance or other similar items in respect of a retirement village;

community retirement village means a retirement village divided into separate residences and common property by a community plan under the Community

Titles Act 1996 or a strata plan under the Strata

Titles Act 1988;

Consumer

Price Index, or CPI, means the Consumer Price Index (All groups index for Adelaide) published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics;

Deputy

President means a Deputy President of the Tribunal appointed under the South

Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013

disclosure statement—see section 21;

dispute resolution policy—see section 45;

domestic partner means a person who is a domestic partner within the meaning of the

Family

Relationships Act 1975, whether declared as such under that Act or not;

eligible person means a person who has attained the age of 55 years and retired from full-time employment;

enforceable voluntary undertaking—see section 64A(1);

exit entitlement means the amount of money that is, under a residence contract, payable by the operator of a retirement village on a person ceasing to reside in the retirement village or when certain conditions specified in the contract are fulfilled and includes an exit entitlement payable in circumstances referred to in section 27(2)(b);

exit fee means the amount of money that is, under a residence contract, payable by a resident of a retirement village on the resident ceasing to reside in the retirement village or on the sale of the resident's right to reside at the retirement village;

Note—

This would include, for example, any deferred management fees, refurbishment costs and remarketing costs.

ingoing contribution means a payment (however described) made by or on behalf of a person in consideration for, or in contemplation of, the person becoming a resident in a retirement village (which includes any deposit paid but does not include a recurrent charge, an exit fee, a special levy or any other payment excluded by the regulations from the ambit of this definition);

operator of a retirement village means the person by whom or on whose behalf the retirement village scheme is administered;

period of occupation—a resident's period of occupation of a residence in a retirement village is the period—

Note—

See also subsection (2).

premises condition report—see section 23;

President means the President of the Tribunal appointed under the South

Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013;

recurrent charge means a fee, charge or other amount (as specified in the residence contract) payable by a resident to the operator of a retirement village on a recurrent basis;

register—see section 12;

Registrar means the person for the time being holding or acting in the office of Registrar under section 6;

related body corporate has the same meaning as in the Corporations

Act 2001 of the Commonwealth;

remarketing, in relation to a residence in a retirement village, means the activity undertaken by or on behalf of the operator in advertising or otherwise marketing the sale of a right of occupation of the residence;

remarketing policy—see section 22;

residence means premises or a part of premises designed for separate occupation as a place of residence;

residence contract means a contract under which a person enters into occupation of a residence in a retirement village in accordance with a retirement village scheme;

residence rules means the rules with which residents of a retirement village are expected by the operator to comply;

resident of a retirement village means a person who has entered into occupation of a residence in accordance with the scheme and (subject to the terms of a residence contract) includes a spouse or domestic partner of such a person who—

retirement village means a complex of residences or a number of separate complexes of residences (including appurtenant land) occupied or intended for occupation under a retirement village scheme but does not include a complex excluded from the ambit of this definition by the regulations;

retirement village dispute means a dispute between an operator of a retirement village and a resident of the retirement village about the parties' rights and obligations under this Act or the resident's residence contract (which includes, for the avoidance of doubt, a dispute arising in connection with the application of a residence rule);

retirement village scheme or scheme means a scheme established for eligible persons and their spouses or domestic partners, or predominantly for eligible persons and their spouses or domestic partners, under which—

senior manager, in relation to a retirement village, means any person to whom the village manager reports or who is responsible for directing the activities of the village manager (but does not include a person appointed as a receiver and manager of a body corporate);

special levy—see section 21(1)(a)(iii);

special resolution means a resolution passed at a meeting of residents of a retirement village in the following circumstances:

spouse—a person is the spouse of another if they are legally married;

Tribunal means the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal established under the South

Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013;

village land owner, in relation to a retirement village, means the owner of the land used for the retirement village but does not include an owner who is a resident of the retirement village;

village manager, in relation to a retirement village, means the person responsible for the day to day management of that retirement village but does not include a person appointed as a receiver and manager of a body corporate.

Note—

This could be the operator or a person employed or engaged by the operator to manage the retirement village.

• the day on which the resident enters into occupation of the residence in the retirement village; or

• the day on which the resident signs the residence contract, whichever is later; and

90 days after the day referred to in subsubparagraph (A);

or

Part 3;

and

Tribunal confirms the operator's decision to terminate the right of occupation, at the end of the period fixed by the Tribunal within which the person must vacate the residence;

Act applies to retirement villages established either before or after the commencement of this Act; and

Act binds the Crown in right of this State and (so far as the legislative power of the State permits) the Crown in any other capacity, but not so as to impose criminal liability on the Crown.

Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, confer exemptions from this

Act or specified provisions of this Act—

Maximum penalty: $10 000.

Expiation fee: $500.

Note—

This

Act does not apply in relation to aged care facilities under the

Aged

Care Act 1997 of the Commonwealth.

Minister will appoint a Public Service employee to be the Registrar.

Minister may assign a Public Service employee to act as the

Registrar—

Registrar's functions are—

Act; and

and

Registrar may, at any time, and must, at the request of the

Minister, report to the Minister on any issue concerning retirement villages.

Registrar may, by written notice, require a person to provide specified information, or information of a specified kind, that is in the person's possession and that the Registrar reasonably requires for the performance of the Registrar's functions under this

Act (including any function assigned to the Registrar by the

Minister under section 7(1)(e)).

and

Maximum penalty: $2 500.

Expiation fee: $210.

Information classified by the Registrar as confidential is not liable to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 1991.

Registrar may delegate a power or function vested in or conferred on the Registrar by or under this Act—

Registrar must, on or before 31 October in every year, forward to the Minister a report on their work and operations for the preceding financial year.

Minister must, within 12 sitting days after receiving a report under this section, have copies of the report laid before both

Houses of Parliament.

Registrar must maintain a register containing the following information:

Registrar under section 64A;

Minister must ensure that copies of material on the register can be purchased for a reasonable fee at the public office, or public offices, at which the register is kept available for inspection.

Maximum penalty: $2 500.

Expiation fee: $210.

Maximum penalty: $2 500.

Expiation fee: $210.