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Session Summaries
our guide to 2023 session summaries
simon kuestenmacher - DEMOGRAPHY AS THE CRYSTAL BALL FOR OUR AGE-FRIENDLY TOMORROw
Simon Kuestenmacher, Director and co-founder, The Demographics Group, kicked off the event with an insightful keynote looking into Australia’s greatest demographic challenge – the ageing population. He covered things such as the importance of using secondary cities to house Australia’s future population, along with the need to address the serious skills, and workforce shortages. He then sat down for a Q&A with Property Council of Australia Chief Executive, Mike Zorbas.
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Simon Kuestenmacher, Director & Co-Founder, The Demographics Group
Mike Zorbas, Chief Executive, Property Council of Australia
CHAMPIONING THE CUSTOMER VALUE PROPOSITION
The panel of Christopher Rooke, Managing Partner, One Fell Swoop, Bronwyn White, Founder, Marketing to Baby Boomers, and Rachel Lane, Director, Village Guru, took a deep dive into the needs, expectations, and new and emerging trends with the new wave of retirement village residents. Some of the points to come out of the discussion included baby boomers wanting options and what works best for them in retirement. Removing confusion surrounding the move into a retirement village and empowering customers with knowledge of how the process, and industry as a whole works, were also key takeaways. Moving away from the old school gated communities and opening up villages to integrate more with the wider community was also covered.
Christopher Rooke, Managing Partner, One Fell Swoop
Bronwyn White, Founder, Marketing to Baby Boomers
Rachel Lane, Director, Village Guru
Jess Adamson, Presenter and Journalist
The NEED FOR PUBLIC-FUNDED AGE-FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES
Rhonda Andrews, Founder, Principal Senior Psychologist & Managing Director, Barrington Centre, Kim Teudt, Vice-President, Retirement Living Council, Executive General Manager – Retirement Living, Bolton Clarke, Retirement Living Life Member, and Donna Rayner, Principal, Russell Kennedy Lawyers & Board Member, Women’s Property Initiatives hit the stage to speak about the need for public funded age-friendly communities. They covered areas including housing choices for struggling older Australians, the retirement living industry’s landmark report, ‘Retirement Living – A Solution for Older Women at Risk of Homelessness’ and how the retirement living industry can help secure better housing, health and wellbeing outcomes for seniors experiencing rental stress.Â
Rhonda Andrews, Founder, Principal Senior Psychologist & Managing Director, Barrington Centre
Kim Teudt, Vice-President, Retirement Living Council | Executive General Manager - Retirement Living, Bolton Clarke | Retirement Living Life Member
Donna Rayner, Principal, Russell Kennedy Lawyers & Board Member, Women’s Property Initiatives
Leida Pirts, National Policy Manager - Retirement Living, Property Council of Australia
COVID-19 HAS CHANGED THE MARKET AND THE APPROACH
In front of a packed room for one of the first concurrent sessions, James Wiltshire, Executive Commercial Director, DCM Institute, Alison Abel, Sales Director, Marketability, Michelle Bruggeman, Chief Operations Officer, Levande, and Kate Melrose, General Manager Project Sales, Ingenia Communities, discussed how the industry has come out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Panellists believe the industry has come out of an incredibly tough time stronger than before, with an emphasis on resident safety during the pandemic helping create a positive narrative around the industry. They also believe the industry has an important opportunity to pivot its marketing with a more technology savvy demographic following the pandemic and baby boomers bringing a new attitude towards retirement villages.
James Wiltshire, Executive Commercial Director, DCM Institute
Alison Abel, Sales Director, Marketability
Michelle Bruggeman, Chief Operations Officer, Levande
Kate Melrose, General Manager Project Sales, Ingenia Communities
Judy Martin, Executive Lead – International / SAGE Study Tours & Anchor Specialist Advisor, Anchor Excellence
WOrkforce security - THe forward defence strategy
Charles Moore, Chief Executive Officer, BaptistCare, Dr Brett Robinson, Chief Executive Officer, RetireAustralia, and Jane Monk, Chief Executive Officer, Gannon Lifestyle Communities, came together as a panel to delve into workforce security. They spoke about the importance of a good workplace culture, remunerating staff accordingly and having a well-structured human resources strategy in place. Other key points raised by the panel were the wants and needs of the new generation coming into the workforce, the principle of purpose for your staff and organisation, and the importance of finding passionate and committed staff who care about delivering quality care, support, and love to residents. Showing staff that your organisation cares about them, making sure they are clear on their role and comfortable as part of their team were all mentioned as tools to help avoid a high rate of staff turnover.Â
Charles Moore, Chief Executive Officer, BaptistCare
Dr. Brett Robinson, Chief Executive Officer, RetireAustralia
Jane Monk, Chief Executive Officer, Gannon Lifestyle Communities
Tony Massaro , Partner, KordaMentha Real Estate
RESIDENTS AT THE CENTER OF BETTER BUSINESS MODELS
Another popular concurrent session regarding residents being at the centre of better business models saw a panel of Dr Elizabeth Lanyon, Independent Chair, Retirement Living Code Review Panel, Judy Mayfield, President, President, Association of Residents of Qld Retirement Villages, Craig Bennett, President, Retirement Village Residents Association Inc. NSW, and Graham Wilkinson, Owner & Director, Generus Living Group & President of the NZ Retirement Village Association, hit the stage. Discussion included the need to get more operators signed up to the Retirement Living Code of Conduct and the possibility of it becoming mandatory one day. Current concerns with resident versus resident abuse were also mentioned, while interesting comparisons were made to the New Zealand retirement living industry.
Dr. Elizabeth Lanyon, Independent Chair, Retirement Living Code Review Panel
Judy Mayfield, President, Association of Residents of Qld Retirement Villages
Craig Bennett, President, Retirement Village Residents Association Inc. NSW
Graham Wilkinson, Owner & Director, Generus Living Group & President of the NZ Retirement Village Association
Nicholas Playoust, Manager Director, AEH Retirement Group
PWC PResentation of the 2022 retirement census results
PwC Partners Richard Ainley and Alan Herrman provided an overview of the release of the 2022 Retirement Living Census snapshot report. Key take aways included national village occupancy levels remaining steady at 89 per cent, and longer average ILU selling days, with an increase of 30 days from 223 to 253 from vacant possession to settlement. Other noteworthy points included the average two bed Independent Living Unit (ILU) price grew by 6.6 per cent from $484,000 to $516,000 over the18 months to December 2022, while national house prices over the same period rose by 26.2 per cent, with prices moderating from May 2022 when the RBA started rising interest rates. As such, ILUs were slightly more affordable, with the national average ILU median price at c.52 per cent of the median house price, compared to c.55 per cent in FY21. Based on the 2022 Retirement Census responses, the development supply pipeline planned for over the next three-years to calendar year (CY) 2025 fell by more than half to 5,100 dwellings compared to the 2021 Retirement Census of over 10,500 dwellings.
Richard Ainley, Partner - Integrated Infrastructure, Real Estate Advisory Services, PwC
Alan Herrman, Partner - Integrated Infrastructure - Real Estate Advisory, PwC
ANZ 2023-24 business & investment outlooK
Jack Chambers, Senior Interest Rates Strategist, ANZ, provided an insightful look ahead for the next 12 months for the Australian economy. He tipped more rate rises on the horizon for Australia, while he also discussed trends that will have a significant bearing on our prosperity over the medium to long term, including the increasing importance of the care economy, especially as our population ages, as well as the impacts of climate change and increased digitalization.
Jack Chambers, Senior Interest Rates Strategist, ANZ
IAN YATES AM - UPDATE from the interim-inspector general of aged care
Ian Yates AM, Interim-Inspector General of Aged Care, Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, provided an update on the roles and functions of his office and its workplan moving forward.Â
Ian Yates AM, Interim-Inspector General of Aged Care, Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
Accenture report update
Aaron Hill, Managing Director Economic Insights, Accenture, discussed the work being done by his organisation to gather important industry data, which will help the RLC continue to advocate for industry with governments across the country.
Aaron Hill, Managing Director Economic Insights, Accenture
View from the top
Tony Randello, Chief Executive Officer, Aveo Group, and President Retirement Living Council, M-L McDonald, Chief Executive Officer, Freemasons WA, and Immediate Past President, Retirement Living Council, Claire Scapinello, Chief Executive Officer, ECH, and Daniel Gannon, Executive Director, Retirement Living Council, discussed the view from the top of the industry. They spoke about the need for more operators to join the RLC to help put more weight behind advocacy work being done, along with the importance of the data currently being collated to also help make a case to governments across Australia regarding the importance of a healthy retirement living industry. The need to be proactive and to improve penetration rates were also covered during an insightful panel discussion.
Tony Randello, Chief Executive Officer, Aveo Group & President, Retirement Living Council
M-L MacDonald, Immediate Past President, Retirement Living Council & CEO, Freemasons WA
Claire Scapinello, Chief Executive Officer, ECH Inc
Daniel Gannon, Executive Director, Retirement Living, Retirement Living Council, Property Council of Australia
DR Jane Barratt - un decade of healthy ageing
With an ageing population and a focus on ‘healthy ageing’, Dr Jane Barratt, Secretary General for the International Federation on Ageing, broke down what the future looks like and how the industry can lead the way. She spoke about ageism, the four action areas and four enablers for the decade of healthy ageing, where Australia ranks on a global scale with caring for older people, and how we can create an environment for healthy ageing. Dr Barratt then sat down for a Q&A with Tony Randello, Chief Executive Officer, Aveo Group, and President Retirement Living Council.
Dr. Jane Barratt Phd, Secretary General for the International Federation on Ageing
Tony Randello Chief Executive Officer, Aveo Group & President, Retirement Living Council
Bettering "best practice" design
Bettering best practice design was the topic for the panel of Adrian Esplin, Chief Executive Officer, Sarah Constructions, Emily Gilfillan, Principal, Seniors Living + Communities Lead, Billard Leece Partnership, Lara Calder, Managing Director, Calderflower, and Julianne Parkinson, Chief Executive Officer, Global Centre for Modern Ageing. The panellists emphasised the need for choice and variety to be available for potential residents and encouraged those in the industry to be brave an innovative when designing villages in the future. Sustainability, planning for longevity by using materials that will last and require minimal maintenance, and taking the time to design new villages with good teams were also key take aways.
Adrian Esplin, CEO, Sarah Constructions
Emily Gilfillan, Principal, Seniors Living + Communities Lead, Billard Leece Partnership
Lara Calder, Managing Director, Calderflower
Julianne Parkinson, Chief Executive Officer, Global Centre for Modern Ageing
Daniel Gannon, Executive Director, Retirement Living, Retirement Living Council, Property Council of Australia
Housing the ageing population with climate action
Matt Power, Group Manager Sustainability, Aveo, Nathan Cockerill, Chief Executive Officer, Keyton, and Magali Wardle, Head of Market Development, NABERS, covered the pressing topic of housing the ageing population with climate action. They covered what ESG investment means to your customers, workforce, and operators, as well as world-best practice ESG strategy tips, ethical supply chains for net zero embodied carbon, and financial mechanisms for driving down emissions, increasing resilience and delivering social outcomes.
Matt Power, Group Manager Sustainability, Aveo
Nathan Cockerill, Chief Executive Officer, Keyton
Magali Wardle, Head of Market Development, NABERS
Tim Wheeler, National Policy Manager, Property Council of Australia
Healthy Ageing - Championing a third way in aged care
The hot topic of healthy ageing was discussed by a panel which included Beverly Smith, Executive General Manager – Self Managed Division, myHomecare Group, Deidre McGill, Executive General Manager – At Home Support, Bolton Clarke, and Cameron Holland, Chief Executive Officer, Ryman Healthcare. They made it clear the importance of healthy ageing not being an afterthought that comes down the track after design and that it must be at the forefront of the industry’s thinking. Tailoring what the industry has to offer to new demographic of potential customers and encouraging rightsizing were also key points of discussion.
Beverly Smith, Executive General Manager – Self Managed Division, myHomecare Group
Deidre McGill, Executive General Manager – At Home Support, Bolton Clarke
Cameron Holland, CEO, Ryman Healthcare
Judy Martin , Executive Lead – International / SAGE Study Tours & Anchor Specialist Advisor, Anchor Excellence
Technology and innovation - challenges and opportunities
A panel made up of Ali Galadari, Chief Executive Officer, Conpago, Domenic Fonte, Chief Executive Officer, AssetFuture NSW, and Natalie Smith, General Manager – Retirement Living, BlueCare, tackled the topic of technology and innovation in what was a popular session. They covered the threats, challenges, and opportunities that technology and innovation present operators, as well as the best way to manage risk.
Ali Galadari, CEO, Conpago
Dominic Fontre, CEO, AssetFuture NSW
Natalie Smith, General Manager – Retirement Living, BlueCare
Charles Kekovich, National Policy and Stakeholder Manager – Retirement Living , Property Council of Australia
Chris Riddell, Futurist
Chris Riddell, Futurist, closed out the event with a riveting keynote presentation which covered ongoing global trends across the world in all industries and the importance of operators thinking ahead and embracing an ever-changing society. Chris spoke about the future not being an extension of the past, but a reinvention. He also said companies are either plantations or rainforests, depending on the way they work.
Chris Riddell, Futurist
