Welcome!
If you want to learn about retirement living, seniors housing and seniors care in Australia - you've come to the right place. This website is a resource for Australian seniors and their families, where you can find information about retirement villages, manufactured home villages, rental villages, aged care, home care and other products and services that are particularly relevant to Australian seniors.
Retirement Villages
When we refer to retirement villages on this website, we mean managed communities that fall into the following categories:
- retirement villages for the over 55’s
- manufactured home villages for the over 50’s
- rental villages for the over 50’s.
Each of the above categories is subject to different State legislation and involves different legal structures. The financial arrangements can include an initial ingoing capital contribution, ongoing recurrent charges and a unique fee, called a departure fee, exit fee, deferred management fee or DMF, which is paid when the resident permanently vacates the premises. The age criteria are often not as rigid as they sound.
Retirement villages may also be called retirement homes, retirement communities, retirement resorts, retirement estates, lifestyle villages, lifestyle communities, lifestyle resorts, over 55s villages or over 50s villages, but they will usually fall into one of the above categories.
Retirement villages generally offer accommodation that is referred to as "independent living units" or "self care units" (which may offer a range of personal services, if required) or "serviced apartments" (which include a package of personal services as part of the contractual arrangements).
To better understand retirement villages, please see the following pages for more detailed information:
- Learn About Retirement Villages (an overview)
- Top Ten Tips (a list of key things to understand and consider)
- Financial Considerations (how much will you pay?)
- Departure Fee Calculator (calculate how much it could be)
- Rental Accommodation (it’s not always easy to find)
- Pets (what about your furry and feathered friends?)
- Legislation (links to relevant State legislation)
- Free Senior Living Guide and Departure Fee Guide (download from our Senior Living Online website)
- The Retirement Village Handbook (for more detailed information).
When you have all the information you need, you can then Search our Retirement Village Directory to find a home to buy or rent.
Please click here if you would like to list your retirement village(s) in our directory.
Home Care
Home care services are generally provided either by agreement at commercial rates, or on a needs basis in conjunction with government programs such as HACC, CACP, EACH and EACH D.
To better understand home care, please see the following pages for more detailed information:
- Learn About Home Care (an overview)
- Government Programs (what’s available?)
- Advocacy and Complaint Resolution (what to do if things aren’t right).
When you have all the information you need, you can then Search our Home Care Directory to find a service provider.
Please click here if you would like to list your home care service(s) in our directory.
Aged Care
Aged care generally comprises low level residential aged care, which used to be called “hostels”, and high level residential aged care, which used to be called “nursing homes”. Both categories of aged care offer a higher level of care than most retirement villages can provide, including nursing care. Both categories can also incorporate “extra service”, which involves the provision of a higher standard of accommodation and service at an additional cost.
There is also a retirement village / aged care hybrid, which may be referred to as “supported living”, that offers retirement village style accommodation with a level of care similar to that provided by hostels or even nursing homes.
To better understand aged care, please see the following pages for more detailed information:
- Learn About Aged Care (an overview)
- Quality Standards (what you can expect)
- Advocacy and Complaint Resolution (what to do if things aren’t right).
When you have all the information you need, you can then Search our Aged Care Directory to find accommodation in an aged care home.
Please click here if you would like to list your aged care home(s) in our directory.
Independent Living Products and Services
A rapidly expanding range of specialized products and services are available for seniors. It's just a matter of finding them!
Our Products & Services Directory lists products and services that are particularly relevant to seniors. The listings include website links and contact details, so you can find and review relevant products and services from the comfort of your own home. Many of these products and services can be arranged or ordered online or over the phone and delivered to your door. Some may also be available at a retail outlet that you can visit.
Please click here if you would like to advertise your product or service in our directory.
Links and Resources
For your information, we have:
- compiled a suite of links to websites that are particularly relevant to seniors
- produced some additional resources, including a Moving Home Checklist and an information sheet on Wills and Estate Planning.
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