Most communities across Australia have a retirement village nearby. In fact we have close to 2,200 villages, making us second only to America, by population, in the number of villages (with New Zealand a close third).
The relative popularity of retirement villages in each country is about the same, with around one in 12 people aged 75+ making the village choice.
In Australia we have 170,000 people living in approximately 140,000 village homes. Sixty per cent of the villages are owned by private operators and 40 per cent are owned by church, charitable and other not for profit operators.
However, this hasn’t always been the case. The establishment of the first retirement village is claimed by the Brisbane Methodists when one of their congregation, Mr George Marchent who owned Marchent Softdrinks, noticed the lack of accommodation and support for ageing widows. He funded a small village in the early 1920s now known as Whellar Gardens. The original homes are still occupied.
Read more here.
Read more here.
