Petition to the ACT government calls for a streamlined complaints process for retirement villages

The pathways for redress when residents have complaints about their retirement living providers are limited, and often too complex and time consuming to be pursued, John Beagle, a 90-year-old campaigner and retirement village resident, said.

He is calling for an ombudsman to be established to handle complaints about retirement villages in the ACT, by way of an e-petition to the ACT Legislative Assembly.

"It is so difficult to complain that people just do not have the strength, the will and the wherewithal to mount any sort of a complaint," Mr Beagle said.

"If I complain about something in a village in which I live, and I don't get satisfaction, there is no one single entity anywhere in Australia I can go to and have that resolved."

In the ACT, residents of retirement villages who are not able to settle their complaints independently with providers can take them to the ACT Human Rights Commission and to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Mr Beagle, a resident of the Grove retirement village in Ngunnawal, has been through this process himself on behalf of a neighbour.

"There's nowhere you can go to get swift resolution of any problem that exists in a retirement village," he said.

He said without an ombudsman, the actual number of complaints is being obscured as people do not always have the resources and ability to go through the tribunal.

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The Human Rights Commission, which can refer matters to the tribunal, received four complaints related to retirement villages and older people in the 2021-22 year.

There were six in 2020-21, three in 2019-20, two in 2018-19 and 2017-18 and one in 2016-17.

Michael Pettersson, who is sponsoring the petition as a Member of the Legislative Assembly, said he shared concerns that vulnerable residents were being cut off from support when they had complaints.

"I think for vulnerable residents, they need access to support and potential dispute resolution in a very supportive and accessible manner," he said.

"Which is where I think an ombudsman comes in and is a good idea."

There is already legislation covering "pretty much every element of life in a retirement village" in the form of the Retirement Villages Act 2012.

Mr Pettersson said these regulations could be enforced more effectively.

"The first port of call is ACAT, which is not the most onerous court, but it is still a court and if you're vulnerable or an older resident, that can be a very confronting and challenging process," he said.

"And I don't think that that's the best place to try and resolve these disputes."

Mr Pettersson said the territory's ageing population, and greater demand for retirement living options made this issue more pressing for the ACT government.

"If we expect people to live in these residential settings, we should make sure that the regulations that are in place are properly enforced."

The petition can be accessed here.

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