The NSW Government has announced an inquiry into retirement village operators across the state, saying it wants the industry "cleaned up" and made more transparent to stop residents being ripped off.
The move comes after a joint investigation by the ABC's Four Corners and Fairfax Media into retirement village company Aveo that uncovered exorbitant fees and complex contracts, described by some residents as "financial abuse of the elderly".
Minister for Better Regulation Matt Kean said retirement village operators had "too much power" and needed to be reined in.
"I'm sick and tired of hearing the horror stories of our retirees being taken for a ride. I will come down hard on any operators that I find operating outside the law," he said.
Mr Kean appointed Kathryn Greiner AO to head up an inquiry that he said would shine a light on such practices and recommend changes.
He said it would include making contracts "more transparent" through a review of the industry's regulations and would see a compliance blitz on operators right across the state.
"We'll be looking at all operators registered in New South Wales," he said.
"I want to ensure the 55,000 residents of retirement villages in this state have their rights protected and are not being taken for a ride and being ripped off."
Action on contracts could be limited
Ms Greiner said retirement villages provided a wonderful standard of care "in probably 99 per cent of the cases, but we want to make sure that it's 100 per cent".
Asked what action she would take in cases where residents had signed contracts that included exorbitant costs including exit fees, Ms Greiner conceded it could be limited.
"Contracts are contracts, it's not our job to change what the existing contracts are," she said.
But Ms Greiner said she wanted to work with operators to ensure there was better transparency and accountability when contracts were drawn up, to stop the "flood of concerns" raised by existing residents and their family members.
"Part of my investigation is to actually dig deep and delve into the concerns that have been raised," she said.
Mr Kean said if residents had already signed questionable contracts he would look into what could be done to help them, but stopped short of promising to undo existing contracts.
"If they've already signed a contract, I want to know what we can do to give them more power. I'm sick of seeing onerous fees and charges being imposed on residents," he said.
"I'm sick of seeing residents have to spend huge amounts of money and time going through the tribunal process."
Ms Greiner said she planned to hand her recommendations to the NSW Government by the end of the year, or even sooner if possible.
