Events and other information

We finally managed to hold our Retirement Villages Stakeholders forum after two years of Covid cancellations. It was a typically windy Wellington welcome for all our guests who joined us at the Banquet Hall at Parliament. Hon Dr Megan Woods, Minister of Housing, gave the opening address and reiterated the Government’s commitment to carrying out a full legislative review with work starting before the end of the calendar year.

As Retirement Commissioner, Jane Wrightson highlighted in her speech, in the 20 years since the legislative framework was established there has been no review to assess whether the balance of power between operator and consumer is appropriate. We know that many important issues remain unresolved and problematic. Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission is therefore looking forward to working with the Minister and her officials to ensure that we have a contemporary and effective legislative regime that strikes the right balance between the rights and responsibilities of residents and operators.

The rest of the day featured a series of panel discussions and presentations. We engaged with the sector on the findings from our two Retirement Villages projects, which focused on investigating the feasibility of standardising Occupation Right Agreements (ORA) and consideration of how to improve the current complaints and disputes resolution process. We also heard from the Retirement Village Residents Association (RVR) and the Retirement Villages Association (RVA) as they updated the sector on their work. Our final panel session discussed the interface of Retirement Villages and Aged Care, with a focus on improving disclosure requirements for residents. We closed the day with a presentation from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the Ministry that will lead the legislative review, as they outlined the review process and next steps.

The forum provides a unique opportunity to bring together the many stakeholders in the Retirement Villages sector, including Government officials, Retirement Village operators, Retirement Village residents, statutory supervisors, lawyers, dispute panellists, mediators, and consumer groups. From the feedback we have received we are pleased that stakeholders found this to be a productive and thought-provoking day. .

Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission is regularly invited to present to interest groups about its work for retired people including monitoring the legislative framework for retirement villages.

We cannot meet every request, but we encourage you to contact us to discuss whether we might be able to assist your proposal.

Contact us with full details of your proposal and your contact phone number.

E/ rv@retirement.govt.nz
P/ 09 356 0052