Rights, obligations and village rules

Residents rights and obligations

You have the right to:

• exercise self-reliance and autonomy in your personal, domestic and financial affairs
• live in a village that is safe and secure
• live in an environment that is free from harassment or intimidation
• have your peace, comfort and privacy respected
• decide what possessions to have in your premises
• have requests for repairs and maintenance responded to within a reasonable time
• have input into financial decision making
• access any information about you held by the operator
• appoint an agent to receive notices and documents on your behalf.

You also have obligations to:

• respect the rights of other residents, visitors and staff
• not interfere with the peace, comfort or privacy of other residents
• not act in a way that negatively affects the occupational health and safety of village workers
• respect the rights of the operator, employees and agents to work in an environment free from harassment and intimidation
• not intentionally or recklessly cause property damage or injure anyone
• comply with the village rules and make sure that anybody you invite to the village also complies.

These rights and obligations are set out in the Retirement Villages Act 1999, Retirement Villages Regulation 2017 and in your contract.

Village rules

If your retirement village is a community land scheme or strata scheme, village rules do not apply. Instead, you have 'by-laws'.

It is common for villages to have rules, but not all do. If there are rules in place, a copy must be attached to your contract.

Village rules can only relate to the use, enjoyment, control and management of the village.

Changing the rules

To suggest a change to the rules, a written request can be put to the village operator by:

• the residents committee
• a group of residents (5 residents or 10% of the residents of the village, whichever is the greater, or if the village has fewer than 10 occupied units, a majority of residents).

An operator can also propose changes to the rules.

The operator must hold a meeting of residents within 28 days after receiving the request.

Residents will have to vote by special resolution which means at least 75% of residents who participate in the ballot, must support the change.

The operator must notify all residents of the outcome within 7 days.

If any change to the rules imposes additional costs to the operator, the operator must get consent from the residents to update the annual budget. This is by a majority vote (more than 50% of the votes cast in person or by proxy agree).

Residents or the operator can apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal if they think any of the rules are unjust, unconscionable, harsh or oppressive, or inconsistent with the law.

Owners corporations and community associations

In a strata or community scheme, the owners corporation / community association is responsible for administering the scheme and maintaining the common property.

An owners corporation or community association can delegate some or all of its functions to a strata managing agent and may also employ a separate caretaker or building manager.

A strata retirement village will also have a village operator.

The managing agent and operator may or may not be the same person.

Some owners corporations / community associations prefer to appoint a separate person as their managing agent to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

By-laws

Retirement villages usually have village rules that deal with matters like noise and pets. In a strata or community scheme, these matters are dealt with under ‘by-laws’.

To avoid any cross-over, rules made under the Retirement Village Act do not apply to any part of a village that forms part of the strata scheme.

Visit our strata by-laws information for more detail.

Further information

What are my rights if there's a change of operator?

If the operator of a retirement village changes, the rights and obligations for the residents remain the same.

If the new operator wants to be involved in the management or control of the village, they must hold a meeting with the residents and any former occupants who still have entitlements under their contracts.

The meeting must be held at least 28 days before they become the operator. At this meeting the potential operator must report on their:

• financial ability to operate the village, and
• plans for the future management of the village, including any proposed changes.

The residents and former occupants must be given at least seven days’ written notice of the meeting.