the Aged Care Today magazine featured articles

As more Baby Boomers look for safe, active and engaging communities, there is a strong penchant for villages that are well run, have a good reputation and can demonstrate a continued commitment to quality improvement.

Increasingly, prospective buyers are becoming aware of the accreditation scheme and despite us not being a consumer organisation, we often get calls asking if a particular village is accredited.

For villages that have taken this step, there’s no doubt it offers a competitive market advantage. And if your village hasn’t yet signed up, here’s what you need to know.

Retirement Living Code of Conduct

The Retirement Living Code of Conduct developed and supported by Aged & Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) and the Retirement Living Council helps operators to provide a trustworthy and high-quality service for those living in, and considering moving to, a retirement community.

The Code is focused on the wellbeing of residents, fairness in marketing and sales practices, and maintaining good relationships with residents and stakeholders.

It includes mechanisms to improve the handling of complaints and disputes in a way that complements existing dispute resolution processes, as well as guidelines on transparent processes when residents move out.

Signatories to the Code share a vision to promote and protect the independence, privacy, dignity, happiness, safety and security of older people through the provision of specialised, quality, fit-for-purpose housing, with tailored support services within a community environment.

Australian Retirement Village Accreditation Scheme

The Australian Retirement Village Accreditation Scheme (ARVAS) is the national accreditation scheme for the retirement living industry, developed by ACCPA and the Property Council of Australia (PCA), representing the owners and operators of retirement communities.

The ARVAS Standards Second Edition reflect the evolving service offerings within retirement communities across seven key quality areas:

• Community Management
• Human Resource Management
• Resident Entry and Exit
• Resident Engagement and Feedback
• Environment, Services and Facilities
• Safety and Security
• Resident Care (when applicable)

The ARVAS Standards are designed to work directly with the Retirement Living Code of Conduct, which is the sector’s self-assessment tool.

As such, any organisation wishing to apply for accreditation under ARVAS must be an active subscriber to the Retirement Living Code of Conduct.

ACCPA, through its Safety & Quality Management System, has already done the hard work for operators planning to become accredited through ARVAS, with a full suite of policies and procedures mapped directly to the Code and ARVAS now available for our subscribers.

These policies and procedures will have you enable retirement living operators to comply with the both Code and ARVAS.

The ARVAS standards are supported by explanatory notes, which provide important information about how they should be interpreted and applied, including minimum requirements and general considerations that are intended to be aspirational and inform improvement.

For accreditation against the ARVAS Standards, there will be two ratings, ‘met’ and ‘not met’ for each Indicator.

ARVAS Audit Partner

Quality Innovation Performance Limited (QIP) is the authorised accreditation provider against the ARVAS Standards on behalf of ACCPA and the PCA, having accredited against the previous standards (IRCAS) since 2011.

QIP is Australia’s most comprehensive not-for-profit accreditation agency with expertise across the health and human services sector.

Their input has seen numerous retirement living providers improve their competitive advantage and value proposition, securing the edge needed in today’s market.