New South Wales Consolidated Acts

RETIREMENT VILLAGES ACT 1999 - SECT 4

4 Definitions

(1) In this Act--

"accounts" of a retirement village means the accounts referred to in Division 6 of Part 7.

"annual management meeting" means the meeting referred to in section 72A.

"approved annual budget" means a budget taken to be an approved annual budget under section 116.

"association" and
"association property" have the same meanings as they have in the Community Land Management Act 2021 .

"business day" means a day that is not--

(a) a Saturday or Sunday, or

(b) a public holiday or bank holiday throughout the State.

"capital maintenance" means works carried out for the purpose of repairing or maintaining an item of capital and includes works prescribed by the regulations as being capital maintenance, but does not include works that are prescribed by the regulations as not being capital maintenance.

"capital replacement" means works carried out for the purpose of replacing an item of capital, but does not include capital maintenance.

"capital works fund" means a fund established under section 99.

"close associate" of an operator of a retirement village means--

(a) if the operator is a natural person--

(i) the spouse, de facto partner, parent, child or sibling of the operator, or

(ii) the parent, child or sibling by marriage of the operator, or

(iii) a body corporate of which the operator (or the operator's spouse, de facto partner, parent, child or sibling, or the operator's parent, child or sibling by marriage) is a director or secretary, and

(b) if the operator is a body corporate--

(i) a director or secretary of the body corporate or of a related body corporate (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth), or

(ii) the spouse, de facto partner, parent, child or sibling (or the parent, child or sibling by marriage) of such a director or secretary, or

(iii) a related body corporate, and

(c) in either case--an agent or employee of the operator.

Note--: "De facto partner" is defined in section 21C of the Interpretation Act 1987 .

"community land scheme" means a scheme (other than a strata scheme) within the meaning of the Community Land Management Act 2021 .

"company title scheme" means a scheme under which a group of adjoining or adjacent premises (including residential premises) is owned or leased by a corporation each of whose shareholders has, by virtue of his or her shares, an exclusive right (under a lease or otherwise) to occupy one or more of the residential premises.

"condition report" means a report referred to in section 38.

"Consumer Price Index" means the Consumer Price Index (All Groups) for Sydney as published by the Australian Statistician.

"de facto relationship" has the same meaning as it has in the Property (Relationships) Act 1984 .

"departure fee" --see section 156.

"development" and
"development consent" have the same meanings as they have in the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 .

"disclosure statement" means a statement referred to in section 18 (3A).

"exercise" a function includes perform a duty.

"financial year" of a retirement village is the period determined under section 91.

"former occupant" of a retirement village means a resident, or a former resident, of the village--

(a) who has permanently vacated any residential premises in the village, and

(b) whose residence contract has been terminated (unless the resident is a registered interest holder (other than a person referred to in section 7 (1) (c)) in respect of the residential premises concerned), and

(c) who continues to have rights or liabilities under a village contract relating to the village,

and includes, except in Part 10AA, the executor or administrator of the estate of such a person.

"function" includes a power, authority or duty.

"general inquiry document" means a document referred to in section 18 (2).

"general services" means services provided, or made available, by or on behalf of the operator, to all residents of a retirement village, and includes such services as may be prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition.

Note--: Examples of general services are management and administration services and gardening and general maintenance.

"holding deposit" means money paid to the operator of a retirement village in consideration for not offering particular residential premises in the village to any other person pending a prospective resident's entering into a residence contract with the operator.

"ingoing contribution" --see section 6.

"investigator" means an investigator appointed under the Fair Trading Act 1987 .

"item of capital" means--

(a) any building or structure in a retirement village, and

(b) any plant, machinery or equipment used in the operation of the village, and

(c) any part of the infrastructure of the village, and

(d) any other item prescribed by the regulations,

but does not include any item excluded from this definition by the regulations.

"licensed conveyancer" means the holder of a licence in force under the Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003 .

"operator" of a retirement village means the person who manages or controls the retirement village, and includes--

(a) a person (other than a resident or other person referred to in subsection (2)) who owns land in the village, and

(b) any other person or class of persons prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition,

but does not include--

(c) the relevant association of a community land scheme or the owners corporation of a strata scheme, or

(d) the managing agent of such a scheme, or

(e) any person or class of persons excluded from this definition by the regulations.

"optional services" means optional services made available, by or on behalf of the operator, to individual residents of a retirement village, and includes such services as may be prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition.

Note--: Examples of optional services are the provision of meals, laundry services and the cleaning of the residents' residential premises.

"proposed annual budget" means a proposed annual budget referred to in section 112.

"prospective resident" of a retirement village means a person who indicates (or on whose behalf it is indicated) to the operator of the village that he or she is (or might be) interested in becoming a resident of the village.

"proxy" of a resident of a retirement village means a person appointed by the resident for the purpose of voting on the resident's behalf at meetings of residents.

"public holiday" means a day appointed under the Public Holidays Act 2010 or another Act as a public holiday.

"recurrent charge" means any amount (including rent) payable under a village contract, on a recurrent basis, by a resident of a retirement village.

Note--: Levies payable under a community land scheme or strata scheme are not
"recurrent charges" (because they are not payable under a village contract).

"Register" means--

(a) in relation to land under the Real Property Act 1900 --the Register kept under that Act, and

(b) in relation to any other land--the General Register of Deeds kept under the Conveyancing Act 1919 .

"relative" of a person means--

(a) the person's grandparent, parent, sibling or child, and

(b) the person's grandparent, parent, sibling or child by marriage, and

(c) the person's step-grandparent, step-parent, step-brother, step-sister or step-child, and

(d) the person's aunts and uncles.

"rescission notice" means a notice under section 32 or 33.

"residence contract" means a contract that gives rise to a residence right.

"residence right" of a person means the person's right to occupy residential premises in a retirement village, being a right arising from a contract--

(a) under which the person purchased the residential premises, or

(b) under which the person purchased shares entitling the person to occupy the residential premises, or

(c) in the form of a lease, licence, arrangement or agreement of any kind, other than a residential tenancy agreement in the form prescribed under the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 --

(i) that is entered into under Division 5 of Part 10, or

(ii) that contains a term to the effect that this Act does not apply to the residential premises the subject of the agreement, or

(d) in the form of any other contract of a kind prescribed by the regulations,

or any other right of a kind prescribed by the regulations.

Note--: See also subsection (2).

"resident" of a retirement village means a retired person who has a residence right in respect of residential premises in the village and includes the following persons (each of whom is taken also to have a residence right in respect of the residential premises concerned)--

(a) the spouse of the retired person, if the spouse occupies the residential premises with the retired person,

(b) if the retired person is in a de facto relationship--the other party to that relationship, if the other party occupies the residential premises with the retired person,

(c) any person or class of persons prescribed by the regulations for the purpose of this definition,

(d) in Parts 6, 7 and 8 and Division 5 of Part 10--a former occupant of the retirement village.

"residential aged care facility" means any residential accommodation for retired people that includes--

(a) meals and cleaning services, and

(b) personal care or nursing care, or both, and

(c) appropriate staffing, furniture, furnishings and equipment for the provision of that accommodation and care.

"residential premises" means any premises or part of premises (including any land occupied with the premises) used or intended to be used as a place of residence.

"residential tenancy agreement" has the same meaning as it has in the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 .

"Residents Committee" means a committee established under section 70.

"retired person" means a person who has reached the age of 55 years or has retired from full-time employment.

"retirement village" --see section 5.

"Secretary" means--

(a) the Commissioner for Fair Trading, Department of Customer Service, or

(b) if there is no person employed as Commissioner for Fair Trading--the Secretary of the Department of Customer Service.

"service contract" means a contract under which a resident of a retirement village is provided with general services or optional services in the village.

"special resolution" means a resolution described in Part 3 of Schedule 1.

"strata scheme" has the same meaning as it has in the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 .

"tenant" means a person who has the right to occupy residential premises under a residential tenancy agreement in the form prescribed under the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 --

(a) that is entered into under Division 5 of Part 10, or

(b) that contains a term to the effect that this Act does not apply to the residential premises the subject of the agreement.

Note--: A tenant is not a
"resident" .

"Tribunal" means the Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

"village contract" means--

(a) a residence contract, or

(b) a service contract, or

(c) a contract under which a resident of a retirement village obtains the right to use a garage or parking space, or a storage room, in the village, or

(d) any other contract of a kind prescribed by the regulations for the purpose of this definition.

Note--: A residence contract, a service contract and any other village contract may be contained in a single document.

"village rules" means the rules made and in force from time to time under Division 1 of Part 6.

Note--: The Interpretation Act 1987 contains definitions and other provisions that affect the interpretation and application of this Act.

(2) For the purposes of the definition of
"residence right" in subsection (1), it does not matter that the person who obtains the right--

(a) is a corporation, if the premises concerned are intended for use as a residence by a natural person, or

(b) obtains it for the purpose of allowing another person to live in the residential premises (instead of the person who obtained the right),

and in those cases, a retired person who lives in the premises with the consent of the corporation or of the person (as the case may be) is taken to have the residence right.

Note--: Subsection (2) would apply in the case, for example, of a person who buys a strata-titled unit in a retirement village for the person's parent to live in.

(3) In this Act, a reference to the sale, the sale price, or a contract for the sale, of residential premises in a retirement village that were or are to be occupied under a company title scheme is taken to be a reference to the sale, the sale price, or a contract for the sale, of the residence right in respect of the premises.

(4) It is sufficient compliance with the requirements of this Act if--

(a) an agent of the operator of a retirement village exercises the functions of the operator under this Act or the regulations, and

(b) any notice or other document required to be given to the operator under this Act or the regulations is given to an agent of the operator.

(5) If there is more than one operator for a retirement village, it is sufficient compliance with the requirements of this Act if--

(a) any of the operators exercises the functions of an operator under this Act or the regulations, and

(b) any notice or other document required to be given to the operator under this Act or the regulations is given to any of the operators.

(6) A reference in this Act to an operator of a retirement village extends to the operator for the time being.