Retirement villages 065-11010000

Retirement villages accommodate people aged 55 years or over. They generally provide either:

• Self-care units - where the resident looks after their own needs. The units are fully self-contained including a kitchen to prepare meals
• Serviced units - which usually do not have full kitchen facilities. Meals are provided in a communal dining room. Other services such as cleaning and laundering may be provided

In some cases, facilities may provide accommodation that allows residents to 'age in place'. They are comprised of a Retirement Village, and low and high level care facilities all in the one complex.

When a customer takes up residence in a retirement village, home ownership is determined by the entry contribution amount, if any, and affects assessment under the assets test.

The entry contribution amount:

• is not subject to the deeming provisions
• does not include ongoing costs such as:
• general service, or
• maintenance fees, which are payable on a regular basis

If the customer is assessed as a non-homeowner:

• fees and charges are assessed as rent, and
• Rent Assistance (RA) may be payable depending on the amount paid by way of fees and charges

If the customer owned their principal home before moving into the retirement village:

• the former home is an assessable asset, from the date of entry to the village
• rental income received for the former home is assessed as income

A customer may not pay an entry contribution. When this occurs, the customer may be asked to pay rent in addition to the maintenance fees. RA is payable on the combined amount.

A customer who enters a unit or aged care section of a retirement village as an aged care resident, to receive a substantial level of care for which ongoing government funding is being provided, is a person 'in residential care'.

• Customers can have their home exempt from the assets test for 2 years from the date they entered residential care if:
• they own their principal home, and
• vacate it permanently
• The customer’s homeownership status and payability of Rent Assistance (RA) is determined by the assessment of the Entry Contribution (EC)
• The 2 year assets test exemption does not apply if the customer is already a retirement village resident moving, into residential care
• The customer’s homeownership status and payability of RA is determined by the assessment of the Entry Contribution (EC)

When customers enter residential care in a retirement village, the lump sum payment must be compared to the extra allowable amount (EAA).

• If the lump sum is greater than the EAA, the customer is considered a home owner:
• they are not entitled to RA
• the lump sum is not assessed as an asset
• If the customer retains ownership of the former principal home, it is an exempt asset for 2 years from the date the customer entered residential care in the retirement village
• If the lump sum is less than the EAA, the customer is a non-homeowner:
• they may be eligible for RA
• the lump sum payment is assessed as an asset, but not a financial asset. Therefore, deeming provisions do not apply
• If the customer retains ownership of the former principal home, it is an exempt asset for 2 years from the date the customer entered residential care in the retirement village

A caravan park, mobile home (transportable home) park, or a lifestyle park may promote itself as a retirement park or village by using a name which gives this impression. Although it may restrict occupancy to residents over a specified age, and have similar facilities to a retirement village, there are factors that need to be considered to determine the correct accommodation type.

If there is doubt about the type of accommodation facility, see Assessing caravans, boats and park homes to confirm if the customer is living in a retirement village and not a lifestyle village or park home.

SRS operate privately in:

• New South Wales
• Victoria
• Queensland, and
• South Australia

SRS:

• offer supported accommodation to older people and people with a disability
• differ from Residential Aged Care, as an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) assessment is not required to enter a SRS
• do not receive funding from the Australian Government
• differ from Retirement Villages, as they are not regulated under state Retirements Village legislation

See Supported Residential Services (SRS) for more details.