WARCRA was formed in 1991 to provide a voice for the residents of retirement villages. It is a non-profit, incorporated body without party political or religious affiliation, run by a committee of volunteers elected by its members. In recent years the growth of retirement villages has been extraordinary and it has become apparent that the residents of retirement villages, and also prospective residents, need somewhere to go where they can obtain reliable information and assistance.
In March 2011 WARCRA was presented with the Richard (Dick) Fletcher Award for organisational achievement, in recognition of excellence in advancement, development and promotion of consumer protection in Western Australia
What Do We Do?
WARCRA aims to:
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provide information for people faced with the important decision of whether to move into a Retirement Village;
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assist residents with a wide range of enquiries on village life, including resident’s committees and procedures for handling disputes;
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act as an advocate on behalf of residents;
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lobby government and other bodies for changes beneficial to residents;
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provide a forum where residents can express their concerns and share their experiences.
Current WARCRA Projects:
In 2006 WARCRA developed a comprehensive submission relating to the government review of the Fair Trading(Retirement Villages Code) Regulations 2003 and the Retirement Villages Act 1992. The Department of Consumer and Employment Protection compiled an Issues Paper from the many public consultations and submissions received and sought feedback from all interested parties. This feedback was required by the end of October 2007 and WARCRA provided another comprehensive submission to this all important review of the legislation. A draft report was expected to be presented to the Minister in 2008. However because of the controversial nature of some issues and the need for a lot more consultation with peak bodies the final Statutory Report was not tabled in Parliament until November 2010. We now know that because there are still some difficult issues to resolve the Bill has been divided into two parts. The first part is in the drafting stage and we believe it will be presented to the Parliament early in 2012