Victorian Retirement Village Reforms – Stage 2: Code of Practice

The Retirement Villages Amendment Act 2025 (Vic) (Amendment Act) commenced on 1 May 2026, marking the most significant reform to Victoria’s retirement village framework since the inception of the Retirement Villages Act 1986 (Vic). Those changes represented Stage 1 of the reforms which consolidated existing regulations and introduced new requirements, including a new standard form contract. 

Stage 2 reforms: The regulations

Stage 2 of the reforms will be implemented through the Retirement Villages Amendment Regulations 2026 (Vic) (Stage 2 Regulations), which were made on 13 October 2026. 

The Stage 2 Regulations introduce the following reforms that take effect from 25 November 2026: 

• the introduction of a prescribed notice form for resident meetings in relation to an increase in maintenance charges to an amount that is greater than the adjusted maintenance charge (i.e. greater than the CPI indexed maintenance charge); and 
   
• prescribing certain conduct that is prohibited during conciliation conferences, including acting in a manner that is aggressive or intimidating.

The Stage 2 Regulations also introduce the following reforms that take effect from 1 July 2027:

• prescribing a mandatory Code of Practice; and
   
• mandatory actions that must be taken by the operator to ensure the village is reasonably safe, including a requirement for operators to establish processes for the ongoing mitigation of hazards and risks identified in the village.

The Retirement Villages Code of Practice

The most significant part of the Stage 2 reforms is a new mandatory Retirement Villages Code of Practice (Code), set out in new Part 8 of the Regulations. From 1 July 2027, operators, proprietors and village staff must comply with the Code of Practice. 

The Code covers: 

• standards of ethical and professional conduct; 
• prevention of elder abuse; 
• marketing information to be provided on exit; 
• renovation, refurbishment and reinstatement; 
• maintenance and changes to services; 
• dispute resolution; 
• staff training and professional development; 
• conflicts of interest;
• emergency planning; and
• financial statements and information privacy.

The Code includes three distinct types of provisions, which operators need to understand in order to assess their compliance obligations.

• Mandatory requirements: These provisions are expressed using ‘must’ language and are legally binding. Breaches of certain mandatory provisions constitute an offence and may also attract regulatory action by the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria. Mandatory obligations include preparing an elder abuse prevention policy, establishing a capital repair and maintenance procedure, preparing a staff training and professional development policy, and disclosing and managing conflicts of interest.
   
• Considerations: These provisions require operators to turn their mind to specific matters but do not prescribe a particular outcome. For example, operators ‘must consider’ whether the annual financial statement presented at the residents’ annual meeting is easy to understand, clearly states the rationale for expenditure allocations and identifies the different sources of income of the retirement village. This tier provides flexibility while still framing the regulator’s expectations.
   
• Good practice guidance: These provisions are expressed using the language ‘it is good practice to’ and are not legally enforceable as a standalone offence. They represent the regulator’s view of appropriate industry standards. Although non-binding, good practice provisions are likely to inform how the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria assesses whether an operator has met its mandatory and ‘must consider’ obligations. For example, in some cases they overlap with mandatory duties (the good practice of consulting residents before significant decisions (r 63(3)) sits alongside the binding duties to be transparent, have regard to the best interests of residents and be accountable (r 63(1))). An operator should consider the ‘good practice’ obligations to be a benchmark and only depart from them with caution.

Offences and penalties

The Code prescribes maximum penalties of 20 penalty units (currently $4,182) for a range of offences, including harassing or intimidating a resident or prospective resident, unreasonably restricting a resident’s access to common areas or facilities, failing to prepare required policies and procedures, and performing a function or making a decision while a conflict of interest remains undisclosed or unresolved. 

Additionally, new infringement notice offences have been added to Schedule 1 of the Regulations for a range of specific Code breaches, each carrying penalties of 2 penalty units ($418.20) for a natural person and 5 penalty units ($1,045.50) for a body corporate. These infringement offences include failing to prepare an elder abuse prevention policy, failing to prepare a refurbishment and renovation policy, failing to establish a capital repair and maintenance procedure, failing to prepare a staff training and professional development policy, failing to maintain written records of staff training, failing to keep records of conflicts of interest, and failing to prepare an information privacy policy.

What operators should do now

Now that the Stage 2 Regulations have been made, operators should review their existing policies and procedures against the Code requirements, including the good practice provisions.