Residents of a retirement village can cancel their residence contract within 3 business days of signing it and are entitled to a refund of all money paid, minus a small admin fee.

Residents can apply to the village operator for a contract check at any time. The operator cannot charge for this check if the resident has given 28 days' notice of their intention to leave the village.

Retirement village operators cannot charge deferred management fees if a resident leaves during the settling-in period or moves to different premises within the same village. Such fees must be calculated as a percentage of the entry payment based on the length of residency.

Retirement village operators and proprietors must ensure that exit entitlements are paid to vacating residents by the date in the contract, an agreed date, or within 12 months of the resident leaving.

Contracting parties must provide residents with a copy of their contract upon signing. Including banned terms--such as undisclosed fees or requirements for owner-residents to pay for premises alterations--carries a fine of 60 penalty units (2026: $12,546) for individuals or 300 penalty units (2026: $62,730) for companies.

Retirement village proprietors must sign an information statement to confirm its contents are correct before publication; failure to do so carries a fine of 60 penalty units (2026: $12,546) for individuals or 300 penalty units (2026: $62,730) for companies.

People who are insolvent under administration are banned from managing a retirement village or promoting and selling occupancy rights, with breaches carrying a fine of 50 penalty units (2026: $10,455).

Agents who receive entry payments must hold them on trust in a special purpose account and cannot release them until the resident is entitled to enter the village and all legal conditions (including payment of previous residents' exit entitlements) are met. Failure to hold payments correctly carries a fine of 60 penalty units (2026: $12,546) for individuals or 300 penalty units (2026: $62,730) for companies.

Agents who fraudulently use entry payments, fail to account for them, or provide false accounts face up to 10 years jail or a fine of 500 penalty units (2026: $104,550), while companies face a fine of up to 2000 penalty units (2026: $0).

If an agent cannot explain a shortage in an entry payment, they can be fined up to 120 penalty units (2026: $25,092) or face up to 2 years jail; companies can be fined up to 600 penalty units (2026: $125,460).

The Director of the office administering retirement village laws can provide guidance to residents who have a dispute with their village.

People living in a retirement village with permission can continue to stay in the premises for up to 3 months after the resident of that premises dies.

Any appointment of a selling agent is void if it was a condition of a resident entering the village or was made at the operator's request.

Any breach of retirement village laws is now also treated as a breach of consumer protection and fair trading laws.