The Office of Fair Trading has released a new version of the statutory form for the Public Information Document. Version 6 of the form which commenced on 12 April 2010 has been updated to take into account the following developments in the law: - The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) commenced on 1 December 2009 and replaced a number of state tribunals including the Commercial and Consumer Tribunal. All disputes under the Retirement Villages Act 1999 (the Act) will now be dealt with by QCAT.
- The Court of Appeal decision in Jomal Pty Ltd V Commercial and Consumer Tribunal & Ors [2009] QCA 326 known as the Jomal Case. That decision confirmed that the definition of “capital items” in the Act excludes items that residents agree to maintain, repair or replace. This has been adopted in paragraph 1.1.10 of the new PID. Paragraph 1.1.10 appears in Part 1 of the document which is the generic information prescribed by the OFT. It now makes it clear to all residents that items which, under their residence contract (i.e. their lease or licence) are to be maintained by them are excluded from the definition of capital items and are therefore not to be maintained, repaired or replaced from the village Maintenance Replacement Fund and Capital Replacement Fund.
All operators should update their Village’s PID as soon as possible. |
