After four years as the inaugural CEO of the Retirement Living Council, Mary Wood has announced she is leaving to take up the role of Executive Director, Strategy & Design for ACT Health. She finishes on 21 October.

The Retirement Living Council was formed in December 2012 when the independent Retirement Villages Association was merged into the Property Council. 

At the time the RVA’s members were struggling with the aftermath of the global financial crisis – low sales and low valuations.

The merger aimed to provide stability and a strong long-term strategic plan to bring retirement villages and seniors accommodation to the attention of the Federal Government in particular.

Mary brought to the position extensive Canberra experience, including being Chief of Staff for Tania Plibersek when she was Minister for Housing.

Today seniors' accommodation is firmly established as a building block in the federal government’s strategic policy development. Other achievements include accreditation, the inaugural professional development diploma for village managers and a model village contract.

In her new role she will be responsible for cultural change, service delivery reform and innovation in the way that ACT Health with 1,200 staff serves the population of Canberra and southern NSW.