In this Newsletter:
ACT RVRA January Newsletter
- President’s Message
- 2026 Committee members
- 2025 AGM Report
- RVRA Website Changes
- Resident Committees Survey results
- Government Strata Title Inquiry – timing
- Contingency amounts in Village Budgets
- Upcoming Members Survey
- ACT RVRA gets New Funding Support.
1 Your President’s Message
At our AGM last November, I was honoured to have been returned as your Association’s President for 2026. I am also grateful to the Committee members who stood for election and were all re-appointed for 2026. We were sad to farewell our Secretary, Anne Caine, who did not stand for re-election ‒ her energy and substantial contribution will be sorely missed. The profile of your 2026 Committee follows this article.
2025 was a big year for us, highlighted by the most successful Forum we have yet conducted. Held in June, the presentations from our 5 speakers were informative and well received, addressing a range of topics including both Retirement Village living and the impending changes to the Aged Care Act. Several firms and agencies that offer support services to members also held information stalls.
Also important was our contribution to the ACT Government’s Working Group on Retirement Village Legislation. As the only member of the Working Group with lived experience in Village issues, our practical perspective is critical in ensuring that your views are properly represented. We used the responses of 21 Village Residents Committees to our August survey (see article below) to inform our positions.
Now that ACT Government funding has expired, and in recognition of past efforts, I am pleased to announce our success in receiving sponsorship commitments from the ACT Human Rights Commission, Phillips Wealth Partners, KJB Law and Tetlow Legal for a total of $11,000 in the coming year. We are exceedingly grateful to our sponsors, as their contributions enable us to plan for another active year in 2026, especially their support for the 2026 Forum. An article acknowledging them, and displaying their logos, appears on the final pages of this newsletter.
I was able to present our story to the residents of 8 Villages during 2025, and look forward to making more presentations this year. If I have not yet presented to your Village, I would love to receive an invitation! And in other ways, I and the Committee also look forward to working with and for you ‒ our members ‒ in the coming year by providing you with more newsletters, representing your views to Government, hosting our annual Forum and keeping you up to date with important and useful information.
I wish you enjoyable Village living in 2026.
Janine Lewis
President
ACT RVRA
2 Meet the new Committee:
Introducing your new Committee.
Janine Lewis, President. Janine’s training as a dietitian led to a career in the federal public service, mainly as a food regulator specialising in food fortification and international food regulation. Janine has enjoyed her last 10 years at The Grove Retirement Village, Ngunnawal including serving on the Resident Committee as Secretary before joining the ACT RVRA and becoming President in April 2024.
Peter Grills, Vice-President, Village Liaison. Peter was a long term public servant working in both the ACT and Commonwealth services. He left the APS in 1993 to set up a management consultancy company. He moved into Kangara Waters Village in February 2022 and has become an enthusiastic supporter of retirement village living. He is thoroughly enjoying his role as VP Village Liaison.
Mike Vale, Vice- President, Administration. Mike moved into the Azure Village, Narrabundah in early 2020. His working background includes thirty years in various public service positions and twenty years in commercial construction management. He is a Justice of the Peace. Mike served as Secretary of the Azure Village Residents Committee for 2 years. This will be his third and last year on the RVRA Committee.
Ken Freeman, Treasurer. Ken is a mathematician and Duffield Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at the Australian National University in Canberra, located at the Mount Stromlo Observatory. He is still active in international astronomy, and has been a Division President of the International Astronomical Union, and served on visiting committees for several major astronomical institutions around the world. Ken lives in the Ozanam Retirement Village in Garran and joined the ACTRVRA Committee as treasurer in 2023.
Isabel Harvey, Committee member and Minutes Secretary. Isabel is a retired senior nurse. She was one of the first residents to move into Yarra Rossa Retirement Village, Red Hill, over 3 years ago, and has been a member of its Residents Committee since its inception. Isabel joined the ACT RVRA last year to better understand the legislative framework pertaining to retirement villages and to support residents not just in her village, but throughout the ACT.
Peter Lerch, Committee member. Peter was a farmer in the Lockyer Valley in Queensland for over 50 years, supplying processing vegetables for both Edgell and Golden Circle canneries. He has been a company director of both a Processing Company and a Harvesting Company. Peter and his wife moved to The Grove Retirement Village in Ngunnawal in 2019 to be near their family.
Sue Skermer, Committee member. Sue is a long term Canberran and public servant. She moved into St Andrews Retirement Village in 2019. Sue served on the Residents’ Committee there for 2 years, including during its transfer from St Andrews management to Warrigal retirement villages. She has just joined the Committee.
I don’t need Google. My grandkids know everything!
3 AGM 2025 Report
The Association’s 14th Annual General Meeting was held in the COTA Hall, Hughes on 26 November 2025. Thirty one members attended, and another 13 sent apologies.
In her President’s Report, Janine Lewis highlighted the success of the two Forums held in the Financial year, and of the stalls held in the COTA Seniors Expo, and the joint Phillips Wealth Partners/KJB Law Seminar in November. Janine also emphasized the benefits of the Association’s continued advocacy for Retirement Village residents to both the ACT Government Working Group on Retirement Village Legislative Reform, and to the ACT Retirement Living Council.
Other business at the meeting included presentation of the Treasurer’s Report by Treasurer Ken Freeman, which reflected an unusually fluctuating financial year due to the impacts of the 2024 ACT Government Grant and conducting two Forums in the one financial year. The Association entered the current financial year with a balance of $5,756.
Vice-President Peter Grills highlighted the on-going financial situation facing the Association, and the steps the Committee was taking to address that situation. He noted that the Association’s on-going expenditure was expected to stabilize around $10,000, while fee income was around $3,300. In response to that, he explained that the Committee was actively seeking sponsorship from companies and Agencies active in the Retirement Village sector. He said that so far, promised commitments of $6,500 had been received, and that other negotiations were still in progress.
He concluded by explaining that in order to show sponsors that the Association was, itself, pulling its financial weight, the Committee needed to review membership fees for the 2026/27 financial year. In that context, he explained that membership fees had only increased once in 13 years (in 2024) and were still very modest. A decision will be made later in the year.
The Elections for Committee members wereas then held. The results of those elections is covered earlier.
Following the formal elements of the meeting, the Guest Speaker, Basil La Brooy, Housing and Ageing Advisor, COTA ACT, gave an interesting and informative talk on “ the New Aged Care Legislation: particularly relating to Support at Home”.
Also during the meeting, those present were asked to complete a trial survey form so that the Committee could assess the benefits of a full scale members survey later in the New Year.
I’m not old. I’m approaching 21 for the fourth time!
4 Changes to the ACT RVRA Website
Your Committee has been putting a lot of information on the Association Website that is accessible equally to both members and non-members. That information includes the slides from our Forums and our newsletters.
To make your membership more valuable to you, and to encourage non-members to join so they get access to informative material, the Committee has decided to create a “Members Only” section of the Website. This will include:
- The current newsletter;
- The Forum slides for each successive Forum;
- Slides from other information events we are part of – e.g. the recent KJB Law/PWP one on 12 November 2025;
- Our useful contacts list;
- The Retirement Village Handbook; and
- The Disputes Resolution entry in the site.
This change will be implemented in the New Year. When it is finalised, all members will be advised how to access it, and there will be an ‘access guide’ in the open section of the website. Also included on the website will be a section devoted to our Sponsors and their areas of expertise.
My memory is so good these days… I can remember things that never even happened!
5 2025 Village Resident Committee Survey Results – Summary
In August 2025, the ACT RVRA sent Village Resident Committees a Survey seeking responses to 6 issues relating to possible amendments to the ACT Retirement Village Legislation. 21 villages responded, and we used the majority response on each topic as the basis of our positions in the submission to the ACT Government Working Group on Retirement Village Legislation.
The following summary details the responses to the Survey:
1 Voting at Retirement Village meetings by Residence or Resident.
The Act currently provides for voting by residence (unless changed at a meeting by special resolution). Committees were asked if voting should be:
Always by Residence (i.e. no change);
- Always by Resident; or
- Variable depending on whether the subject of the vote is more relevant to a residence, or a resident.
Ten voted for C, 6 for B and 5 for A.
2 Village Disputes Committees.
The Act currently requires that every village must have a Disputes Committee. Committees were asked:
- Should the requirement remain compulsory;
- Should the requirement be made optional by replacing ‘must’ with ‘may’; or
- Should the provision be removed from the Act. Eleven voted C, 7 for C and 5 for A.
NOTE: If the provision is ultimately removed from the Act, an existing disputes committee in an ACT Retirement Village can continue.
3 Use of Postal Voting for written ballots.
Currently, postal voting is allowed as an alternative to voting by ballot at a meeting, but only for special resolutions. Committees were asked whether there should be a new option to allow any written ballot to be administered entirely by postal voting prior to a meeting such as for Resident Committee elections.
Eleven said yes, while ten said no.
4 Returning Officers for a written ballot.
Currently Returning Officers must be elected by residents at each meeting where a written ballot is undertaken. After being presented with details about a range of options, Committees were asked:
- Should Returning Officers be ‘elected’ or ‘selected’;
- If ‘elect’, who should elect them, the Residents Committee or the Residents;
- If ‘select’, who should select them, the convenor of the meeting or the Residents Committee; and
- Should there be any circumstances where the Village Operator should select the Returning Officer.
Selection: Twelve committees said the Committee should select the Returning Officer, 4 said the convenor should select that person (noting the Convenor could be the Operator).
Election: 4 said the residents should elect the Returning Officer; and 1 said the Committee should elect that person.
5 Mandatory Code of Conduct for Retirement Village Operators.
Committees were informed about the Voluntary Code of Conduct established and operated by the Retirement Living Council. They were then asked if they supported a legislated mandatory Code.
Eighteen supported a mandatory Code, one did not and two were unsure.
6 Voluntary but published Code of Conduct for Village Residents.
Committees were asked whether or not they supported the drafting of a Residents Code of Conduct based on the requirements of Section 124 of the Retirement Village Act.
Thirteen were in favour of a Code, and eight were opposed to a Code.
Old age: While I have the right to remain silent, I have lost the ability to do so.
6 ACT Government Inquiry into the management of Strata Titles.
This Inquiry relates to issues raised after the last ACT Government election in October 2024. One of the issues being addressed by the Inquiry is whether there should be a Strata Titles Commissioner whose ambit included both Strata Title complexes and Retirement Villages in the ACT. The Association made a submission to the Inquiry.
In early December, the ACT Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Legal Affairs advised that due to the volume and complexity of the issues put to the Inquiry, its report is not now due until March 2026.
Why do oldies always say “back in my day”? Because their memory only goes that far!
7 Contingency Amounts in Village Budgets
While there are many variations to the financial arrangements under which Retirement Villages in the ACT are managed by Operators, it is a general requirement of the governing legislation that the Operator must prepare an annual Village Budget detailing how the money collected from Residents’ monthly payments is to be spent. The budget must be agreed to by Residents.
Residents are not able to amend the Budget as such – only to accept or reject it. Residents may, however, seek information so as to be able to make an informed judgement whether or not to accept the budget.
Most service-related elements of budgets are generally transparent and uncontroversial, since they can be readily assessed against quotations. There are, however, several potentially contentious budget elements particularly salaries and conditions of Village staff, and the proportion of an operator’s corporate costs reasonably chargeable to Residents. It is legitimate for Residents, whether represented by a Residents Committee or not, to question Operators’ costings of these budget elements where they think them to be unreasonable.
Ultimately, where Residents are unhappy with an operator’s costings and responses to questions, reference to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal may be the only way of having the matter reviewed and arbitrated.
One element easily overlooked when considering a draft Village budget is the provision of a Contingency amount, this being a normal allowance to provide for unexpected additional costs or, unexpected increases in the cost of providing services that have been budgeted for. This is standard prudent practice when formulating budgets.
However, the actual dollar value provided for as the Contingence amount is significant. This is because, if there is a budget surplus at the end of the financial year, that benefit accrues to Residents, whereas if there is a budget deficit, that must be funded by the operator. There is a provision in the Regulations to the Retirement Villages Act (Regulation 38) that limits the Contingency amount that can be included in Village budgets. The amount is fairly modest: for budgets of $200,000 or less, the amount is $1,000, whereas for budgets over $200,000, the maximum amount allowable is 0.5% of the total. By way of example, in a budget of $500,000 the Contingency must be no more than $2,500, or for a budget of $1M, the Contingency must be no more than $5,000.
This is worth keeping a close eye on when your next Village budget is up for review and acceptance, since not only is it contrary to law for operators to include Contingency allowances above the statutory limits, but each dollar extra over the limit that is sought to be included in the budget is a direct and unwarranted charge on Residents. Unfortunately, recent experience with one Village operator whose budget included Contingency well above the statutory limit suggests that this provision may not be as well understood and implemented as it could be.
Why do I smile all the time? Because I can’t hear a word you’re saying!
8 ACT RVRA Membership Survey.
The Association Committee is always conscious of its responsibility to meet the needs and expectations of its members. To assess our progress in responding to those expectations, in late 2025 it was suggested to the Committee that a survey of members be conducted. Our Vice-President Mike Vale prepared a draft set of survey questions, and they were trialed with the members who attended the AGM in November. The response of those members was positive, and the forms they submitted provided useful information.
On that basis, the Committee has decided to conduct a full membership survey later in the year. You will be advised when the survey is being conducted.
Older folk are like vintage red wine –the older they get, the more you enjoy them!
9 ACT RVRA gets New Funding Support
In March 24 the previous ACT Attorney General recognised our potential to contribute more effectively on behalf of retirement village residents, and arranged a seeding grant of $25,000 to improve the quality and scope of our activities.
That grant was significant and enabled us to become more active in supporting and adding value to retirement village resident living over the next 15 months. However, the grant was fully expended by June 2025 and a second grant was not offered to support our on-going activities.
Our budgeted income shows that we need an annual revenue stream of around $10,000. Given our current membership numbers, and the loss of about 15% of our membership at fee renewal time, our current fee income is around $3,300 per annum. Clearly that is not, and cannot be, enough to fund our current range of activities.
After developing a sponsorship proposal, we were successful in gaining sponsorship support from noteworthy businesses and a government agency to ensure that we are adequately funded for 2026. All our Sponsors have a specialist involvement in the Retirement Village sector and have been working closely with the Association for some time.
The Association is therefore exceedingly grateful for the strong financial support of the following Sponsors in 2026:
- Phillips Wealth Partners,
- The ACT Human Rights Commission,
- KJB Law
- Tetlow Legal
Whether it be in making financial decisions about entering a Village, seeking legal advice about a Village contract, or resolving a dispute within, or involving, a Village, these Sponsors have demonstrated expertise that can assist you. Similarly, they can provide relevant advice about moving from a village to residential aged care. Supporting them also supports your Association, so let them know if you chose them because of their support for us.
Welcome to our new sponsors! The Association will continue to work with them to ensure that village residents do get the best possible support. Here are their logos and contact details.
ACT Human Rights Commission 56 Allara St
Canberra ACT 2601
(02) 6205 2222
human.rights@act.gov.au www.hrc.act.gov.au
Philllips Wealth Partners 1 University Ave
Canberra ACT 2601
1300 102 233
info@phillipswp.com.au
www.phillipswp.com.au
Tetlow Legal 28 University Ave
Canberra ACT 2601
(02) 6140 3263
mail@tetlowlegal.com.au
https://tetlowlegal.com.au