New Accreditation Scheme for Retirement Villages

A step forward for potential residents…

The Australian Retirement Village Accreditation Scheme

ARVAS, the new, unified accreditation scheme for retirement community owners and operators, is now open for business. The standards were formulated following the consideration and evaluation of feedback received from industry and stakeholders. The accreditation is designed to be supported by the Retirement Living Code of Conduct, forming a new and robust quality framework for the operation of retirement communities.

Who is ARVAS?

ARVAS is co-owned by two organisations representing the retirement living sector, the Property Council of Australia and Leading Age Services Australia (LASA), and operated on their behalf by Quality Innovation Performance (QIP), an experienced not-for-profit provider of independent accreditation services.

Ben Myers, Executive Director – Retirement Living at the Property Council, said ARVAS has been designed to reflect current and future retirement village resident expectations.

The accreditation is designed to be supported by the retirement living code of conduct, forming a new and robust quality framework for the operation of retirement communities.

SEVEN ARVAS Categories of the Standards

“The seven ARVAS categories of the Standards reflect all elements of a resident’s retirement living experience, from their signing of a contract to move in, until their eventual move-out,” Mr Myers said.

“Through our research and consultation, residents told us they would value a scheme that evaluated their community on their ability to provide safety and security, the quality of their village manager and staff, and the clarity of the community entry and exit procedures.

“ARVAS contains updated, modern standards relating to each of these, and residents can be confident that an ARVAS-accredited community delivers on its promise.”

Sean Rooney, Chief Executive Officer at LASA, said care and personal services had been included in the retirement living sector’s accreditation standards for the first time, explaining that “With more retirement villages either providing or facilitating the delivery of care-related services, it made sense to ensure our accreditation scheme reflected this evolution in the retirement living sector,” Mr Rooney said. More Info

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