Behind the glossy brochures and satisfaction surveys, unscrupulous retirement housing operators hide a dirty secret: they are making a fortune from retirement residents' nest eggs.

We are campaigning to:

  1. Establish a Retirement Housing Ombudsman - to provide free, fair and binding dispute resolution
  2. Put a stop to excessive fees - that are frequently opaque and have no relationship to the services provided
  3. Address complex and ambigous contracts - by making them standardised
  4. Introduce mandatory minimum training and accreditation standards - bringing them into line with what's expected from other property managers
  5. Protect residents right to sell
  6. Involve residents in any reform process

Latest Retirement Housing Campaign Updates

Fairer fees for residential parks?

24 Jul 2024
Fiona and Shane talk to Steve, a resident from Lifestyle Communities involved in an upcoming VCAT case challenging some of the fees charged to residents. 
Listen in on 3cr.org.au

Statement on appropriate regulation of land lease communities

Melbourne, July 15: Land lease communities need better regulation to protect older people from mistreatment, according to Housing for the Aged Action Group.

Today a story published by the ABC highlighted problematic deferred management fees charged by some land lease communities or residential parks. These often-exorbitant fees make it extremely difficult for older people who have purchased properties in these communities to leave.

Statements and Rants

27 Sep 2023
In a special double-Fiona episode, Shane and Fiona are joined by Fiona 2.0 to discuss some events HAAG is running as part of this year's Seniors Festival - retirement housing, quilting and more. Then we talk about the Andrews Government's recent Housing Statement, including some faint praise and a short list of okay announcements before we get to the really bad stuff in this garbage bag of antisocial policies. 
Listen in on 3cr.org.au

Residential Parks Roundtable Report Back

In August, HAAG and the Office of the Commissioner for Residential Tenancies co-hosted a roundtable for residential park residents. We wanted to bring residents from many different parks together to compare their experiences and see what is working and what isn’t for them, and what issues do they have in common.

Responding to Older Persons Homelessness: What Works

HAAG published several articles as part of the June 2018 edition of Parity Journal.

Pages

What can we do?

- Join the Retirement Accommodation Working Group

Are you passionate about retirement housing reform? Our Retirement Accomodation Working Group meet regularly to work together for change.

Find out more and join the group!

- Write to the Premier

Send your message to Premier Jacinta Allen and ask her to commit to improving the lives of residents of Retirement Villages and Residential parks (land lease communities). and to make housing for older Victorians affordable and fair.

- Write to your MP

Let your elected representative know that Retirement Housing Matters to you!

Download a template letter

- Meet with your MP

Meeting with your MP can be daunting but they need to hear from us! Here are some resouces to help

Advocacy Kit

Retirement Housing Matters is a campaign partnership Consumer Action Law Centre (link is external), Council on the Ageing (link is external), Residents of Retirement Villages Victoria and Housing for the Aged Action Group.

Resident Committees

HAAG has developed resources to assist residents to form resident committees. 

 Guide to Resident Committees