New retirement village regulations streamline administration and better protect residents
The regulation of NSW retirement villages has been strengthened with improved transparency for residents, reduced administrative burden for operators and new powers allowing NSW Fair Trading to address operators not complying with regulations.
The Retirement Villages Regulation 2025 came into effect on 1 September 2025 to ensure NSW retirement living laws support the evolving needs of prospective and current residents and retirement village operators.
The new laws require operators to give residents key information on their village to inform resident decision-making and support enjoyment of their home in the village, including enhanced disclosure requirements for incoming residents and the introduction of an annual streamlined capital maintenance reporting process replacing the current three-year report.
The Regulation assists operators by reducing the amount of information which must be recorded in the asset register and requiring operators to record the ‘remaining effective life’ of capital items instead of ‘effective life’.
On the spot fines can now be issued by NSW Fair Trading inspectors for new offences including failure to meet obligations around recordkeeping for conflicts of interest, development of strategies for preventing elder abuse and handling of complaints or disputes.
The new laws are enforced by the NSW Strata and Property Services Taskforce, which has also developed updated guidance on retirement village living, including updated disclosure statement forms and inquiry documents to align with the new regulation.
For more information, visit the Living in a retirement village page on the NSW Government website.
Quotes attributable to Strata and Property Services Commissioner, Angus Abadee:
“The Retirement Villages Regulation 2025 ensures current and future residents have access to updated information when making important decisions about retirement village living."
“With more than five per cent of our senior population living in retirement villages at any one time, it is important the regulations governing the relationship between residents and operators is appropriate to the current needs of the market."
“Retirement village residents have a financial and personal investment in the future viability of the village and these changes will ensure they are better informed by operators who benefit from reduced red tape and clearer obligations to residents."