Village finances

By law, you can access certain financial information about the village.

Before the financial year starts, operators must prepare draft budgets outlining the costs of operating, repairing, maintaining and replacing village facilities.

Operators are also required to obtain a full or updated quantity surveyors report each year providing recommendations about the expected maintenance, repair and capital replacement costs for the village for the next 10 years. The recommendations in these reports must be taken into account in preparing the village budgets.

A resident or a residents' committee can make a written request for a copy of a draft budget or an independent quantity surveyor’s written report. The written request must be given to the operator at least 28 days before the beginning of a financial year. The scheme operator must provide the requested documents at least 14 days before the beginning of the financial year.

If there is an increase in the cost of a general service expense which is greater than expected for a financial year, a residents committee can ask the scheme operator to explain the reason for the increase.

Quarterly financial statements

As a resident you may ask the operator for a quarterly financial statement for 1 or more completed quarters of the current financial year or 1 or more quarters of the last 2 completed financial years.

The operator must provide these statements within 28 days of your request.

The quarterly financial statement must show income and expenditure for the:

• capital replacement fund
• maintenance reserve fund
• general services charges fund.

A financial document such as a quarterly financial statement, must be in the approved form, if one exists, include prescribed information, and be prepared in accordance with standards or principles prescribed for the document by regulation.

Annual financial statements

You can also request an annual financial statement. The operator must ensure a financial statement about the retirement village’s operation, is given, on request to a resident within 5 months after the end of each financial year.

An annual financial statement must be prepared each financial year. The statement must be in the approved form if one exists and must contain the following information:

• income and expenditure of the capital replacement fund for the financial year
• income and expenditure of the maintenance reserve fund for the financial year
• income and expenditure of the general services charges fund for the financial year
• any amounts received from insurance claims relating to the village for the financial year
• assets and liabilities of the retirement village as at the end of the financial year
• any interest, mortgages and other charges affecting the village's property as at the end of the financial year comply with regulation

This statement must be audited and an audit report prepared in accordance with the Australian Auditing Standards. Section 113 of the Retirement Villages Act 1999 provides specific details on who can audit this report.

Every year the operator must also call a residents meeting to discuss the financial statements as soon as they are available. They must present the audited financial statements and quantity surveyors report to the residents at this meeting.

Operational documents

As a resident or prospective resident, you can make a written request to a scheme operator for a copy of an operational document using this form – request a copy of an operational document (PDF, 415KB).

The Retirement Villages Regulation 2018 outlines which operational documents you can request.

Operational documents you can request include:

• Certificate of registration for the retirement village scheme
• Certificate of title or current title search for the retirement village land
• Village site plan
• Plans showing the location, floor plan or dimensions of accommodation units in the village
• Plans of any units or facilities under construction
• Development or planning approvals for any further development of the village
• An approved redevelopment plan for the village under the Retirement Villages Act
• An approved transition plan for the village
• An approved closure plan for the village
• The annual financial statements and report presented to the previous annual meeting of the retirement village
• Statements of the balance of the capital replacement fund, or maintenance reserve fund or general services charges fund (or income and expenditure for general services) at the end of the previous three financial years of the retirement village
• Statements of the balance of any Body Corporate administrative fund or sinking fund at the end of the previous three years of the retirement village
• Examples of contracts that residents may have to enter into
• Village dispute resolution process
• Village by-laws
• Village insurance policies and certificates of currency
• A current public information document (PID) continued in effect under section 237I of the Act (this applies to existing residence contracts)

When you make your request, you will need to state your name, whether you are a resident or a prospective resident, and allow a reasonable time for the operator to supply the documents (at least 7 days after the request is given to the operator).

A scheme operator cannot charge a resident or prospective resident of a retirement village a fee for preparing or giving a copy of the following documents:

• A village comparison document
• A prospective costs document
• A condition report
• An operational document other than the scheme operator’s copy of a completed residence contract for an existing resident or the scheme operator’s copy of the public information document for an existing resident.

The scheme operator must comply with a request to access documents, except where within 30 days, they complied with another request by the person to inspect or copy the same operational document and there have been no material changes to the document since they complied with the other request.

The scheme operator cannot give you any personal information about another person.

More information

• Visit our village decision making and committees page
• Visit our useful contacts page
• Email regulatoryservices@chde.qld.gov.au