The rules for Western Australian retirement villages are changing. With the passage of the Retirement Villages Amendment Act 2024 (WA), Western Australia is setting a new benchmark for how operators manage long-term asset planning, transparency, and financial accountability.
The amended legislation, assented to in November 2024, will come into effect following the release of supporting regulations – expected by late 2025. From that point, operators will have a three-month transition period to align with the new requirements.
While these changes introduce new compliance obligations, they also present a timely opportunity to reduce costs, improve operational visibility, and foster stronger trust with residents.
Your asset register: The foundation for compliance and planning
Meeting these new rules starts with having a complete and current asset register.
Under the new rules, operators will need to move beyond generic costing or age-based assumptions. Asset data must now reflect:
The actual condition and usage of capital items
Projected lifecycles and timing of required interventions
A clear distinction between capital maintenance and capital replacement – now formally defined in legislation
Accurate data supports better decisions. Without it, asset plans can quickly become unrealistic and risk undermining credibility with residents and regulators alike. .
A Capital Maintenance Plan that reflects real asset needs
Under the new legislation, operators will be required to prepare a Capital Maintenance and Capital Replacement Plan covering a minimum of five years. The plan must include expected works, timelines, cost forecasts, and funding sources – all reviewed annually and shared with residents before each annual general meeting (AGM).
A common challenge in retirement villages is that operators often bear the cost of major capital replacement (for example, a new roof), while they can charge residents for routine capital maintenance (fixing a leak in that roof). This sometimes leads to a short-term focus on maintenance at the expense of lifecycle planning.
Consider this example: a hot water system fails unexpectedly. You pay for urgent replacement or emergency repairs and absorb a cost that wasn’t in the budget.
Now imagine that six months earlier, your data flagged that system as nearing end-of-life. Instead of reacting, you scheduled predictive maintenance – a planned, cost-effective intervention that extended the system’s life and avoided an emergency call-out.
That’s the difference between reactive maintenance and proactive asset planning – and under WA’s new legislation, this level of foresight is no longer optional. It’s expected.
A dedicated Capital Maintenance Fund for greater financial transparency
WA’s legislation requires operators to establish a separate Capital Maintenance Fund – a dedicated account where resident contributions must be held and used exclusively for capital maintenance.
This means informal budgeting or pooled reserves are no longer enough. The fund must directly support the capital plan and align with forecast works.
In practice, this raises the standard for:
Forecasting works and associated costs
Avoiding both underfunding and overcollection
Demonstrating transparent use of resident contributions
Operators must be able to clearly explain how the fund is structured, how it supports the plan, and how decisions are made on its use.
Systems that make compliance easier, not harder
Once the regulations commence, operators will have three months to establish their fund and submit a compliant plan. That short timeframe means preparation is essential, and scalable systems will play a critical role.
Manual processes and spreadsheets aren’t designed for this level of tracking, reporting, or multi-site consistency. Operators will need systems that:
Monitor asset condition and lifecycle trends
Distinguish between maintenance and replacement activities
Maintain up-to-date data across multiple villages and asset types
Produce clear, consistent reports that are easy to interpret and ready to share with residents and boards
WA’s reforms are a shift from traditional facilities maintenance toward integrated, lifecycle-based asset planning. Having the right systems in place, like AssetFuture’s robust and purpose-built platform, will make that transition simpler and more sustainable.
Now is the time to prepare
Transparent, well-structured asset reporting won’t just help you meet compliance requirements – it will support stronger relationships with residents, reduce disputes, and increase confidence in your village management.
With implementation expected just months after the regulation is released, the time to prepare is now. Reviewing your asset data, establishing your fund, and embedding the right systems and processes takes time, and doing it well helps avoid risk later.
AssetFuture has helped retirement village operators across Australia respond to similar reforms. From structuring asset registers to forecasting, reporting, and compliance planning, our platform and methodology provide the clarity and confidence you need to move forward.
If you're preparing for WA’s new requirements, we’re ready to help. Get in touch today.