The Retirement Village Association (RVA) and Property Council of Australia have today announced they are in discussions aimed at forming a new and powerful voice for retirement villages in Australia.
“The RVA and Property Council have been working together for six months to identify opportunities to better represent an industry that has a vital and growing role in the nation’s future,” said RVA CEO Andrew Giles.
“Discussions have been extremely positive and we expect to be in a position to make further announcements next month.”
Mr Giles confirmed that, while there was further detail to work through, the Boards of both organisations had unanimously agreed on several core principles:
• A well-resourced leadership group was required to spearhead advocacy and public policy for the retirement living sector.
• Any new structure must be inclusive and unite the broad church of the industry under a single voice (for-profit and not-for-profit, large groups and single village operators, companies in every region).
• Any new structure would continue the RVA’s positioning as the only national industry association solely focussed on representing the interests of owners, operators, developers and suppliers of retirement communities in Australia.
• Industry self-regulation through a rigorous and relevant accreditation scheme is essential.
• Any new structure should deliver an expanded set of high quality member services to the industry.
The RVA and Property Council will now consult with members over the coming weeks before making further announcements.
