Retirement villages in Victoria are run under different models by a range of businesses, not-for-profit and charitable organisations.
All retirement villages will have an operator and a proprietor:
- Proprietor: the person or organisation that owns the retirement village land (other than land owned by a resident or an owners corporation).
- Operator: the person or organisation responsible for the daily operation of the retirement village.
Some villages may also have a residents committee, an owners corporation, or both:
- Residents Committee: residents may elect a committee to represent their interests. A committee is optional, so there will be one only where the residents of a village choose to elect one.
- Owners corporation: where some or all residents own their premises, there may also be an owners corporation. Where this is the case, residents own their lot and the owners corporation manages the common property under the Owners Corporations Act 2006. Only owner residents are members of the owners corporation.
Each village must have an information statement. It must identify the proprietor and operator, and say whether there is a residents committee or an owners corporation. Each village must publish its information statement on its website. Go to Information statements for more information.
Proprietor
The proprietor is the owner of the retirement village land, other than land that is owned by a resident, or is common property owned by an owners corporation with resident members.
The proprietor’s major responsibilities include:
- owning the retirement village land
- paying exit entitlements (if required to do so under a retirement village contract) when they are due
- reporting to residents on whether the village is likely to be able to pay its debts in the coming year
- reporting to residents on the village’s ability to meet its debts in the year ahead.
The proprietor reports on these payments at the annual meeting. Go to Annual meetings and village governance for more information.
Operator
The operator is the person or organisation responsible for the daily operation of the village. The proprietor and the operator can be the same person or organisation.
This role includes responsibility for:
- paying exit entitlements (if required to do so under a retirement village contract) when they are due
- maintaining and replacing the capital items the operator is responsible for, preparing a capital maintenance plan, and managing a capital maintenance fund
- publishing an information statement and providing condition reports and yearly contract checks
- holding annual meetings and giving residents proper notice
- running a dispute procedure and reporting disputes to Consumer Affairs Victoria
- preparing emergency and evacuation plans and carrying out annual safety checks
- notifying Consumer Affairs Victoria of the village details each year.
How to identify the operator
Sometimes it is not clear who the operator is, especially if several organisations are involved in running the village.
The key question is who fits the legal definition of an operator:
the person [or organisation] who is responsible for the daily operation of the retirement village, whether or not that person is also the proprietor of the village
The person or organisation that fits this definition is the operator and must meet the operator’s legal duties.
The definition refers to responsibility for the daily operation rather than who carries out the daily tasks. The following questions may help determine who is responsible for the daily operation of the retirement village and therefore is the operator:
- who has the authority to hire, direct and dismiss any management organisation or staff who carry out the daily operation of the village
- who makes the final decision where there is a disagreement between the organisations involved in running the village
- who controls the budget of the village and decides where to allocate funds.
Residents committee
Residents may elect a residents committee to represent the interests of the residents of the village. A committee is optional.
A residents committee can:
- call a meeting of residents, and elect one of its own members to chair that meeting
- form subcommittees and decide its own procedure
- invite the operator or proprietor to attend a committee meeting.
Go to Residents committees for more information.
Villages with an owners corporation
Where residents own their premises as freehold, there may be an owners corporation to manage shared property such as buildings, grounds and facilities.
Every retirement village has an operator, including a village with an owners corporation. The operator runs the village and has duties under retirement village laws. Where there is an owners corporation in a village, the owners corporation manages the common property under the Owners Corporations Act 2006. An owners corporation does not replace the operator.
Where there is an owners corporation, some of the operator’s responsibilities may change. For example, where there is an owners corporation an operator is not required to:
- prepare a capital maintenance plan or establish a capital maintenance fund, if the owners corporation has a maintenance plan and a maintenance fund under the Owners Corporations Act 2006
- maintain items of capital that are common property owned by the owners corporation.
Owners of freehold premises within a retirement village that has an owners corporation are members of the owners corporation and take part in its decisions. Owner residents usually pay owners corporation fees as well as retirement village maintenance charges. Some villages combine these into one payment. Different legal rules still apply to each type of fee or charge.
A village with an owners corporation must also meet the annual meeting requirements of both the Retirement Villages Act 1986 and the Owners Corporations Act 2006.
Villages can have a mix of owner and non-owner residents. Where that happens, the owners corporation is made up only of the owner residents, and only they pay owners corporation fees and vote on owners corporation matters. All residents, including owners and non-owners, keep their rights under retirement village laws. This includes the right to attend and vote at residents meetings and to use the village dispute procedure.
For more information about owners corporations, including fees, meetings and how they are run, go to Owners corporations.