Transparency Statement for Information Collection
Under the Retirement Villages Act 2003 and the Retirement Villages Code of Practice (as varied in 2017) Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission collects certain information. This information is gathered and used for the purposes of monitoring New Zealand’s retirement villages sector.
At all times, Te Ara Ahunga Ora takes care to exercise our information gathering powers lawfully and appropriately, and meet our obligations under the Privacy Act 2020, the State Services Commission Code of Conduct, and relevant Te Ara Ahunga Ora policies and procedures.
Monitoring information
Since 1 April 2017 the Commissioner receives six-monthly reports from operators of all registered retirement villages about any formal complaints they have received in the preceding six-month period. Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission requires each retirement village operator to:
- Report the number of formal complaints during the six-month period
- Provide the classification, resolution rate and information about the outcome
- Report how many formal complaints were referred to either a statutory supervisor or mediator.
The Commissioner uses this information to monitor trends and any identify any issues in the industry and to inform the Minister. Te Ara Ahunga Ora publishes a public summary of the information received but does not publish the identity of any complainant or village involved in a complaint.
Te Ara Ahunga Ora may also collect information under Section 36 of the Retirement Villages Act 2003. This gives Te Ara Ahunga Ora the power to ask questions of retirement village operators, and seek information from them, and allows operators 20 business days to respond. Te Ara Ahunga Ora collects such information from time to time as part of performing its functions under the Act. In doing so, Te Ara Ahunga Ora considers core principles including public interest, proportionality, consistency, transparency and fairness.
Contact us
Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission is committed to the highest standards of public service. If you think we are not meeting this standard, whether in relation to our monitoring functions or other aspects of our work, please get in touch. For information regarding how to make a complaint about Te Ara Ahunga Ora’s information gathering activities, please email office@retirement.org.nz.