South Australian Current Acts

RETIREMENT VILLAGES ACT 2016 - SECT 29

29—Arrangements if resident is absent or leaves

        (1)         If a resident is absent from a retirement village for a continuous period of at least 28 days, the resident is not liable to pay, in respect of a period of absence after those 28 days, any amount in respect of any personal service that the retirement village (or the operator) ceases to provide to the resident because of his or her absence from the retirement village.

        (2)         If a resident ceases to reside in a retirement village—

            (a)         the resident ceases to be liable to pay any amount (other than an amount that has already accrued) in respect of any personal service that the retirement village (or the operator) formerly provided to the resident; and

            (b)         the operator must assume responsibility for the payment of any recurrent charges in respect of the residence formerly occupied by the resident, or otherwise payable by the resident in connection with the retirement village (other than with respect to any amount attributable to a charge that has already accrued).

        (3)         If—

            (a)         an operator must assume responsibility for recurrent charges on account of a resident ceasing to reside in a retirement village; and

            (b)         the resident is entitled to the payment of an exit entitlement,

then the operator is entitled, subject to subsection (4), to recover from the resident an amount equal to the amount paid by the operator for recurrent charges that would otherwise have been payable by the resident over the prescribed period.

        (4)         An amount recoverable under subsection (3)—

            (a)         cannot exceed the amount of the exit entitlement payable to the resident (and if it would exceed that amount, the amount recoverable under subsection (3) must be reduced so as to equal the amount of the exit entitlement payable to the resident); and

            (b)         cannot be recovered until the exit entitlement is due to be paid to the resident (and may then be recovered as a deduction from the exit entitlement payable to the resident).

        (5)         For the purposes of subsection (3), the "prescribed period", in relation to a resident who has ceased to reside in a retirement village, is—

            (a)         unless paragraph (b) applies—the period of 6 months from the day on which the resident ceased to reside in the retirement village; or

            (b)         if the Tribunal has, on the application of the operator, determined that the prescribed period for the purposes of that subsection should in the circumstances of the particular case be longer than 6 months—the period determined by the Tribunal,

subject to the qualification that the prescribed period will in any event come to an end when the residence occupied by the resident before he or she left the retirement village is resold or relicensed, or otherwise taken over or occupied by another resident.

        (6)         The Tribunal should not make a determination extending the prescribed period under subsection (5) unless the Tribunal is satisfied that in the circumstances of the particular case it would be harsh and unreasonable to limit the prescribed period to 6 months.

        (7)         If—

            (a)         a resident is liable to pay an amount in respect of any other charges that may accrue after he or she has ceased to reside in a retirement village; and

            (b)         the resident is entitled to the payment of an exit entitlement,

then the operator is not entitled to recover the amount until the exit entitlement is due to be paid to the resident (and the amount may then be recovered as a deduction from the exit entitlement payable to the resident).

        (8)         If an operator does not make 1 or more payments for which the operator must assume responsibility under subsection (2)(b) at the same time as the resident would have been required to make the payments if he or she had remained in the retirement village, the operator—

            (a)         must keep a record of the outstanding payments, and identify them in any relevant financial statements prepared for the purposes of this Act (while those payments remain outstanding); and

            (b)         must make the outstanding payments before any other person enters into occupation of the residence; and

            (c)         must not attempt to recover the outstanding payments by increasing the recurrent charges payable by other residents.

Maximum penalty: $5 000.

        (9)         In this section—

"personal service" means a service provided to a resident individually (rather than to residents generally).