RETIREMENT VILLAGES
583. Hon LYNN MacLAREN to the Minister for Commerce:
(1) How many retirement villages currently operate in Western
Australia?
(2) Of those, how many are not for profit?
(3) How many people live in retirement villages at present?
(4) How is that number expected to increase or decrease over
the next five years?
(5) What is the estimated value of this industry?
(6) On
average, for how long does a resident of a retirement village remain liable for
the recurrent charges of the village after he or she has moved out?
Hon
SIMON O'BRIEN replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of this
question.
The member may wish to refer to page xxiv of the ''Statutory
Review of Retirement Villages Legislation'', Final Report, November
2012, where a lot of this information is expanded upon.
(1) The precise
structure of the retirement villages sector in Western Australia is not fully
known. Recent industry figures indicate that in Western Australia in 2009 there
were a total of 192 villages with 13 026 independent living units and 282
serviced apartments.
(2) Of this number, the total
not-for-profit sector administered approximately 75 per cent.
(3) Preliminary
industry statistics indicate a total population of between 15 000 and 16 000
persons living in retirement villages in WA.
(4) While the
Australian Bureau of Statistics has forecast that in another 40 years nearly a
quarter of WA's population will be over 65, it is not possible to
ascertain with any certainty how this might translate into future trends in the
retirement villages industry.
(5) The value is unknown.
(6) The
Retirement Village Association estimates that the average vacancy period for
retirement village units is eight months, meaning that such residents would, on
current arrangements, actually pay recurrent charges for eight months on
average after leaving a village.
Some contracts in the not-for-profit
sector provide that residents remain liable for payment of recurrent charges
only for a set notice period after leaving a village—say, 30 or 45
days.