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Healthcare | Business World Australia | 3
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HowardWrightisoneofthoserarethings:Ana-
tive New Zealand business that started almost
organically, and one that keeps on growing.
Howard Wright started his business in the early
1950s in the basement of his house manufac-
turing hand wrought iron parts and structures. He
was asked by a nurse who knew of his engineering and
mechanical reputation to see if he could manufacture
a more accessible modern hospital bed. She had seen
some modern designs while travelling overseas and
knew that New Zealand would truly benefit from the
modern design ideas that they had implemented in
their mechanical hospital beds. Howard was not one
to shirk from a challenge and he enthusiastically took
on the project. In his research he found that not only
could he build a bed similar to the ones found overseas,
he could markedly improve upon the design and func-
tion of the beds.
Upon completing his first project, Howard Wright’s
designs and technical skill began to gain notability
throughout the New Zealand medical community. De-
mand for his beds grew at such a rate that Mr. Wright
was forced to abandon his basement business, and in-
corporated his operations as Howard Wright Limited;

opening his first dedicated bed
manufacturing factory in 1963.
By 1970, Howard Wright Lim-
ited was manufacturing almost
all of the new hospital beds that
were in use in New Zealand.
However, in 1976 came the
breakthrough that would per-
manently cement his company
and its designs internationally.
The M4 bed, using the latest in
hydraulic technology made the
medical bed the easiest, most
multi-purpose bed in the in-
dustry, a design philosophy that
Howard Wright Limited still
uses today. The beds now use
the latest technology available,
and moved from hydraulic pow-
ered parts to become completely
electric. This allows for them to
be run off batteries, be less bulky
and over all easier to integrate
into a healthcare environment.
The simple recipe
for success
“A big contribution to our suc-
cess is that we try to understand
our users and their experiences.
What we learn through this pro-
cess we impart into the prod-
ucts as we develop them,” says
Howard Wright’s CEO, Bruce
Moller. Moller began working
for the company in 1991 as the
General Manager. In 1997, he
became the CEO and has main-
tained that role ever since.
“It’s a simple concept and a pro-
cess we really enjoy and with the
awards we have gotten in the last
few years has shown that it is
working very well.” The current
version of the M8 medical bed
has won several design awards,
at home and abroad.
Thisisreallynosurprise.TheM8
serves a multitude of purposes,
and thus reduces hospitals need
to purchase more than one bed
or transportation system. With
onboard configuration controls
and a backup battery, the M8
reduces physical strain on both
patients and their caretakers.
“This is important,” says Moller,
“somethingassimpleasreducing
the amount of times a caregiver
has to bend over and lift some-
thing reduces the amount of on-
the-job injuries, which equals
less down time.” When asked

that since the beds they design
serve a multitude of functions
and reduce injuries to staff, did
this mean that the bed, after the
initial purchase, eventually pays
for itself?
“Oh yes,” replied Moller, “Not
just once but many times over.”
The evolution of
design: Simple,
Smart, and Human
The M series of beds has evolved
over the years, continually tak-
ing advantage of technological
advances and design innova-
tions from the Howard Wright
design team. Howard Wright’s
M8 critical care bed has won the
top award at the Australian In-
ternational Design Awards, the
internationaliFdesignaward,an
award from the German based
Red Dot awards, and an award
from the Designers Institute of
New Zealand in the Best Design
Awards. “Howard was an inno-
vative person, and that spirit has
been infused into the company
culture which continues to this
day,” says Moller.
About the awards they have
been recognized for, Moller is
extremely grateful. “We know
that we are a small company, but
we are pretty focused, and obvi-
ously we must be getting the mix
right.”
Part of this spirit of innovation
and design was realized when
the company took a look at it-
self and decided that it needed
to upgrade some aspects of its
design process. “Six years ago
we got involved with the New
Zealand Government’s ‘Better
By Design’ program, and that
program was about integrating
design into our processes. At the
time we had very good engineer-
ing capabilities, but by bring-
ing in industrial design into the
mix, it has really increased our

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Lift Assist™ Backrest uses a drop-seat design
which uses the patient’s weight to help raise the
head of the bed while cradling the patient to
help reduce boosting.
Stryker Prime™
Series
Mobile. Safe. Efficient.
Extraordinarily mobile and user-friendly, the Stryker Prime Series stretchers are
designed to greatly reduce the physical strain on clinicians while enhancing patient
care and comfort. Advanced mobility options such as the Zoom Motorized Drive
System or Big Wheel make transporting heavy patients easy, while electric function-
ality allows patients to adjust their own position without calling a caregiver for
assistance. Fully equipped and highly configurable, the Stryker Prime Series allows
you to create the ideal solution to meet your specific needs.
Electric functionality, including exclusive
Chaperone® Stretcher Exit System, gives control
to the patient while helping reduce the risk
of patient falls.
Zoom Motorized Drive System on the
Stryker Prime stretcher virtually eliminates
manual pushing.
The Big Wheel can reduce start-up force
up to 50 percent and steering effort up to
60 percent.
Medical
Advanced mobility, with optional
Big Wheel®
or Zoom®
Motorized Drive
System, helps make transport
safe and efficient
NEW electric-powered base
and litter option available on all
mobility solutions
Industry’s first stretcher exit
system, alerts the nurse to a
potential patient fall
Optional integrated scale
system provides accurate,
repeatable weighings
Pioneer®
mattress offers
superior pressure redistribution
and comfort
Power-washable design with
700 lb capacity

designs’ innovative momentum.
We have been on this journey
for 6 years now, and it has really
helped the business project itself
nationally and internationally.”
Some of the earliest research
they conducted on design flow
gave the company the guiding
principle behind all of its cre-
ations: Simple, Smart, and Hu-
man. What this means, explains
Moller, is that customers want-
ed “products that were very easy
to use, elegant and take into ac-
count human factors such as er-
gonomics. They didn’t have time
for extensive training on a prod-
uct. It has got to be intuitive.
That’s our key to addressing this
and everything we design has to
pass that filter.”
A catalogue of
success
Some of this success can be seen
by how Moller and Howard
Wright have approached selling
the products. “The main thing
we aim to do is just to get people
to try our products. Once they
do, they always seem to find the
experience enjoyable. It’s a bit
like using an iPod, people really
like using them because they are
simple and nice to use. That’s the
experience that we want our us-
erstohave.Gettingpeopletouse
our products through an evalu-
ation process has been the best
way gain success in this market.”
“We really focus on the Austral-
asia market, outside of that there
is one product that has done
very well in Japan, Europe and
North America. It’s our special-
ised product for showering and
bathing people,” this is called
the Pacific Shower Bathing Trol-
ley. “It’s quite unique in its de-
sign, and with its success we are
looking to expand our range of
global niche products.”
“One of the things we aim for is
creating something that is user
friendly, with the M8 and the
Bathing Trolley we have found
great success in developing
something that is technologi-
cally advanced, but has almost
no learning curve. Caregivers
can literally take one look at the
products and intuitively know
how to operate them, to me this

is a great success,” says Moller.
With the aging population,
says Moller, Howard Wright
has found a few particular-
ly important issues that they
have addressed like no one else
has. “We are getting more and
more people who are in need of
healthcare. Their fragility is also
increasing. Along with this you
have to consider that the aver-
age age of the work force is also
increasing, as are the weights
of the patients. You have older
staff moving heavier patients, or
patients with greater frailness.
That creates extra pressure, so if
you can reduce the amount of
bed transfers, while maintain-
ing patient comfort and wellbe-
ing which is making patient care
easier. That’s what we define as
our business: Making human
care easier. When we do this we
are finding people are recovering
more quickly.” The quicker the
recovery, he says, the more bang
for the buck healthcare institu-
tions get.
Using the M8 as an example,
Moller describes only some of
its functions. “You can X-ray
the patient on the bed, you can
use an image intensifier on the
bed – you don’t have to transfer
the patients. The bed also will
go into a full cardiac chair po-
sition, and it’s also very easy to
use with very little training of
staff required. That in itself is a
huge savings for hospitals. All
of those things save money, and
we are working on all those ele-
ments all the time.”
“We realize that the healthcare
dollar has come under pressure,
so anything that healthcare sup-
plierslikeuscandotoeasethat-it
is something we do,” he reiterates
their motto of Simple, Smart and
Human¸ saying that “we want to
minimize the amount of times
caregivers have to shift a patient,
because that’s time and money.”
For the near future, Moller and
Howard Wright have plans to
continue to grow in their home
markets, and making more spe-
cialized products for the rest
of the world. In five years, says
Moller they have the goal to be
at least twice their operating size.
“The need for healthcare devices
is not going to disappear, it is
not a discretionary spend,” says
Moller with confidence.

Howard wrigHt’s
PartNEr iN
iNNoVatioN
Whangarei • Albany • Penrose • EastTamaki
Avondale • Hamilton • Mt Maunganui • Napier
New Plymouth • Palmerston North • Wellington
Christchurch •Timaru • Dunedin
Ph: NZ 0800 304 316
www.edlfast.co.nz

“The company’s genesis was the development of a prod-
uct that met the specific need of reducing entrapment
injuriesinlongtermcarepatients,”saysTonyChristmas,
CEO of The LiftCare Bed Company. “Conventional
hospital and aged care beds have rails that contain the
patient in the bed. These are necessary to ensure the
safety of the patients but are also the cause of many inju-
ries. Many patients, especially elderly patients, become
disorientated and agitated at night,” says Christmas.
“They try to get out of their bed increasing significantly
their risk of injury. Back in the early 1980s, a Director
of Nursing at one of Melbourne’s nursing homes experi-
mented with floor level beds,” he says that this was the
germination of the seed that became LiftCare.
A little bit of history
“I like to believe that LiftCare is an Australian success
story that not a lot of people know about,” says Christ-
mas. “Back in 1983, the Director of Nursing at St
Anne’s Nursing Home in Hawthorn, Victoria, Sister
Elaine Barclay-Abbott, became very concerned about
the way confused and elderly patients were restrained
in their beds – especially at night,” he relates. Some pa-
tients would try to get out of their high hospital beds at
night and injure themselves. Sr. Barclay-Abbott experi-
enced the concerns that LiftCare now addresses with its
products.

“One of the patients at Haw-
thorn was seen as particularly
problematic, often throwing
themselves around in the bed at
night. Worrying for the safety
of their patient, the Sister and
her colleagues removed the legs
from the patient’s bed, with the
hope that this would change the
patients sleeping habits,” says
Christmas. What they noticed
was the patient was much more
compliant and suffered fewer
issues and injuries. Other beds
were modified with similar re-
sults and with whole- hearted
enthusiasm from the patient’s
relatives and doctors. The disad-
vantage of these modifications
was the nurses could not get to
the patient as easily. Height ad-
justable beds were available on
the market at the time, but none
of the offerings went down to
floor level.
“The Sister was introduced to
George Winston, the founder of
Technical Aid for the Disabled
(TAD),” says Christmas. TAD
was a not-for-profit organisa-
tion which lent their expertise
to the disabled in the hopes of
improving their overall quality
of life. TAD looked at the prob-
lem and began to design, while
concurrently conducting mar-
ket research on the feasibility of
a floor-level bed and its applica-
tions. “They came to the conclu-
sion that there was a need for
a bed that allowed a patient to
sleep close to the floor at night,
but could be raised to a height
during the day to allow nursing
staff to attend to the patient.”
They later were able to success-
fully obtain a grant and began
developing the first floor level
bed. They then applied for a pat-
ent that made sure the idea was
secure.
TAD was a design house only,
so they had to find a company
qualified to manufacture the
bed. “No manufacturers any-
where in the world were build-
ing floor level beds at the time.
So many of the companies that
were approached said that it was
not within their capability,” says
Christmas. The one company
that was able to build the work-
ing prototype suffered financial-
ly and went into receivership.

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

Barry McCrimon and Allen
Clarke, two gentlemen that saw
the advantage of the design,
were intrigued by the idea and
were able to continue to work
on the floor-level bed after buy-
ing the design from the original
company. In 1994 they formed
a company called Gerontic and
General Products and produced
the first floor-level bed in 1995.
After that they were able to de-
velop the idea even further, and
in 1997 they launched the Mark
III bed.
The company began trading as
The LiftCare Bed Company and
was acquired by Barton Medical
in 2005, and eventually Human
Care in 2008. By 2009 LiftCare
was selling their products all
over the world including New
Zealand, Canada, the US, Eu-
rope and the Middle East.
Speciality needs,
speciality care
Since their humble beginnings
LiftCare has gone further than
offering a single product for a
single niche need, by expand-
ing their offerings to meet the
needs of several specialised mar-
kets. LiftCare now sells a range
of floor level beds, patient lifters,
ceiling hoists and aids for daily
living products to help improve
the lives of people in care. The
company is also helping Bariat-
ric patients and now markets the
Barton Bariatric Bed and Barton
Bariatric Chair in their range.
As an addition to Aged Care,
the Protean 4 was developed
specifically to break into the
hospital market taking the con-
cept of floor level nursing to a
broader market... This marked
an exciting new market for Lift-
Care, and it has already proven
to be very successful. “The Pro-
tean 4 is a floor level bed that
can be used as a general hospi-
tal bed. WA Public Hospitals,
the Royal Melbourne Hospital,
and a number of other hospitals
in Australia and the world have
been buying the Protean 4s,”
says Christmas. A new version
of the bed, called the P 5 Premi-
um, was released this February
and looks to pick up on the suc-
cessful road that the P4 has pre-
pared. LiftCare’s P5 Premium
Hospital Bed is a complete care
management system.
“I believe this is something we
should be very proud of,” Christ-

mas told his team recently. “We
have people all over the world
being cared for on our beds.
It’s not just happening in Mel-
bourne or Victoria, it is happen-
ing globally. We recently sold a
large number beds into Canada,
and then right after the initial
sale we won a contract in Can-
ada for our P5 Premium Hospi-
tal Bed. In January, our WA dis-
tributor purchased their 1000th
bed.”
Christmas believes that every
hospital and aged care facility
should know at least some of the
history of LiftCare and the con-
tribution that the company has
made to patient care. He would
like the opportunity to show
each facility the LiftCare range
of products and let them see for
themselves the ease-of-use and
the design of their products. An-
other initiative that Christmas is
perusing is educating the health-
care industry on what exactly a
floor level bed can do for both
their patients and their staff. “It
doesn’t just protect the patient
from injury, it is a whole nursing
system,” he says.
The ease of use of their prod-
ucts, and little touches- like un-
der bed lighting, available on
the new P5 Premium hospital
bed, has made the beds a hit
with many healthcare workers.
Christmas says that LiftCare is
always looking at ways to de-
velop and introduce new and
innovative products to im-
prove patient outcomes and
the working conditions of
our customers. “Austra-
lia started the concept of
floor-level nursing, we de-
veloped it, and LiftCare
- through its gen-
esis – was the
first com-
pany in the
market and
we are one
of the lead-
ers today.
We will
stay in this
m a r k e t
and con-
tinue to
develop
in this
market,” says Christmas. “Any
customer who buys one of our
products is buying our heritage
and our experience. They are
also getting with that the peace
of mind that we at LiftCare are
going to continue to innovate
and develop new products to
suit their specific needs.”

Ellex Medical Lasers Limited
is one of the most innova-
tive companies that Australia
has ever seen. Laser technology
has moved a long way, and Ellex
has been there since almost the
beginning. First established in
1985 as a division of Quentron
Optics, Ellex has grown into
a world player of its own. Op-
erating for over 25 years Ellex
manufactures and sells its own
complete line of photodisrup-
tors, photocoagulators, SLT sys-
tems and ultrasound systems for
diagnosing and treating cataract,
retina and glaucoma conditions.
Much of the technology that El-
lexusesisbasedondevelopments
in the defense field; and by locat-
ing their operations in Adelaide
they have been able to take “ad-
vantage of the state’s reputation
as a ‘defense technology hotspot’
to develop our products,” says Si-
mon Luscombe, Ellex’s CEO.
Ellex became a publicly-listed
company in 2001 and has spent
the past few years concentrating
on developing their offerings.
“We had a fairly big 25th year
campaign that focused on all
our operations here and around
the world. We have a number of
subsidiaries around the world in
places like Japan, US, Germany
and Europe,” he says. Their man-
ufacturing site is in Australia,
but they also have a separate in-

ternational sales and marketing
office located here as well.
“We were very early on the
scene,” says Luscombe, “we be-
gan manufacturing out of the
defense industry, so bits of our
technology come from defense.
That’s where it all started.” Lus-
combe says that Ellex was an
early adopter of ophthalmic laser
technology, and was one of the
first companies to start manu-
facturing lasers in the mid-1980s
for medical use.
With over 120 employees in the
Adelaide facility; the Company
also operates a machine shop
which produces components for
use in the manufacture of Ellex
products, as well as for sale to
non-Ellex customers. Operat-
ing in markets worldwide, Ellex
prides itself in providing the best
and most innovative machines
for laser eye surgery. In 2006
Ellex moved into the ophthal-
mic diagnostic arena with the
acquisition of US-based Inno-
vative Imaging which provided
them the opportunity to further
expand their international pres-
ence in the ophthalmic diagnos-
tics market.
One of their greatest successes
has come from a surprising place.
Germany has traditionally been

serviced by Zeiss, but Luscombe
saysthattheyhavebeendoingre-
markably well there. “We are do-
ing remarkably well in Germany
and beating Zeiss at their own
game. I think this says some-
thing about Australian technol-
ogy,” comments Luscombe.
With lasers designed for spe-
cific purposes, Ellex has created
a catalogue of vision solutions.
Luscombe says that one of the
important things that they are
doing is developing treatments
and machines that will actually
prevent blindness in adults. This
comes in the form of the new

generation laser that Luscombe
says “doesn’t damage anything,
but acts on the retina to rejuve-
nate its function. It makes sure
that the disease process cannot
progress.” This is the Ellex 2RT
(Ellex Retinal Regeneration
Therapy); and is a new therapy
for the treatment of Age-Related
Macular Degeneration (AMD),
the leading cause of blindness in
the developed world.
In all Ellex has devoted itself to
help us all see better and lon-
ger, and continues to develop
its product range with the hope
that one day we can all see as
clearly as possible.
Products
Photodisruption
Used to treat secondary cataracts,
and Ellex is the #1 provider of these
in the world. They supply over half
the market with their Ultra Q™ and
Super Q® models.
Photocoagulation
Used to treat vision loss related to
diabetes. This product line includes
the Integre Duo™, Integre® and Soli-
taire™.
SLT Photoregeneration
Used in treating glaucoma by trig-
gering the body’s natural regenera-
tion process. Product line includes
the Tango™ and Solo™ SLT. SLT
does not harm the eye and has no
side effects, which allows earlier
treatment.
Imaging
The Ellex Eye Cubed™ allows for
Ophthalmologists to see detailed
anatomic structures in both the an-
terior and posterior segments of the
eye.

The Retirement Village Association of Australia is the
national body that represents national retirement vil-
lage developers, owners, operators, managers and industry
specialists. With over 750 members, it has seen a steady
increase in membership at a rate of 20 per cent in the past
two years.
Emerging communities
“Retirement villages began to appear 1970’s and 80s”,
says Andrew Giles, CEO of the RVA. “A retirement vil-
lage essentially can be defined as a housing development
designed specifically to cater to the needs and lifestyles of
people aged 65 and over,” he says.
“Most residents of these villages enter into them in their
70s as part of a move to downsize, decrease maintenance
responsibilities, experience a greater sense of safety and se-
curity, or for health and lifestyle reasons,” says Mr Giles,
adding that “not only has this lifestyle shift been of ben-
efit to residents, but it has also freed up residential hous-
ing for younger families, stimulated the local economy and
reduced the pressure on aged care, and medical infrastruc-
ture.”
According to Mr Giles one of the great successes of the
industry is that it reduces demand on local services for se-
niors but remains a unique and innovative model with an
emphasis on lifestyle.
In Australia today the industry represents over 1,850 vil-
lages and communities that are supported by both the pri-
vate sector and non-profit organisations. These communi-
ties house and support more than 160,000 people over the
age of 65 who report very high levels of satisfaction with
their experiences in a village.

Andrew Giles (Chief Executive Officer)
Andrew brings with him first-hand knowledge of the retire-
ment village industry through his previous roles.
Andrew began his career in a consulting firm mainly working
with local government in planning community infrastructure.
He also worked in local government before starting a consult-
ing practice, which operated for over six years.
In2004hejoinedMacroPlanAustralia,oneofAustralia’slead-
ing economics and town planning consultancies, ultimately as
the Victorian State Director. During that time he worked on
some of Australia’s most significant property projects including
demographic and socio economic profiling of Australia’s ageing
population
The stronger the RVA becomes
by adding to its membership,
the more easily it can represent
the industry with a united voice.
This has become more impor-
tant in the past 10 years because
Australia is becoming a more
regulated and legislated environ-
ment.
Thistransitionhasnothappened
over night, and the resulting
state legislative environments,
first designed to protect clients
of retirement villages can, if not
carefully implemented, nega-
tively impact the viability of the
industry as a whole. This in turn
may limit future investment in
housing for older people in Aus-
tralia. “The industry is highly
regulated, which brings with it
great security for residents, but
often higher costs for develop-
ers,” says Mr Giles.
Mr Giles stresses this, saying
that “returns in the sector are
often lower than other tradi-
tional forms of property, and
these returns are achieved over
longer timeframes. As such, any
significant change to legislation
can have significant cascading
impacts to the industry. This is
occurring at a time the Govern-
ment is committed to cutting
red tape and exploring harmoni-
sation across states. For this
reason, a strong industry asso-
ciation that can work with and
inform Government is critical.
This is a fundamental role for
the RVA to show leadership for
the industry.”

The returns may not be immedi-
ately recognisable, but what can
be said is that through support-
ing retirement villages and care
facilities there is quite a positive
effect on the economy. “The sec-
tor is a major contributor to the
national economy and as the
industry grows it will become
more economically significant,”
he says.
“The construction and mainte-
nance expenditure for the indus-
try alone means there is more
than $18 billion of direct and
indirect expenditure (NPV over
20 years) to Australia’s econo-
my. In addition, the industry
generates some $3 billion ser-
vice related [expenditures], with
multipliers into smaller regional
economies in many cases,” says
Mr Giles, pointing to another
indisputable positive effect- sim-
ply put: the industry creates
much needed jobs. “Industry
growth could see the delivery of
some 35,000 jobs per annum -
direct and indirect employment.
It is critical for the RVA to con-
tinue to reinforce this message
to Government and the broader
community.”
What the RVA does
for its members
The role of the RVA is not only
to work with the government
agencies, but to represent the
industry to ensure environments
that a consumer would desire to
live in. “The RVA’s core role is
to unify and represent the in-
dustry to ensure its continued
growth and responding to Aus-
tralia’s massive future housing
need for older people,” says Mr
Giles. This goes deeper than it
would appear because the in-
dustry has faced new demands
in recent years. The first is the
increased demand for services in
an environment where access to
debt and equity to fund growth
is challenging.
A second issue is that retirees
have higher expectations for the
levelofaccommodationandcare
than ever before. This is costly
to deliver, not only because of
their expectations but due to the
high standards that the industry
holds itself to. This means that

businesses that the RVA repre-
sents have to manage their costs
very carefully. Affordability, says
Mr Giles is a “driver of choice for
people and retirement villages
continue to represent choice in
living options for people over
65.”
So where can they get additional
funding? “There is also great op-
portunity for the private sector,
church and charitable groups
and Government to work to fa-
cilitate models of choice in re-
tirement living, including rental
and/or new financial options to
meet the diverse needs of the
consumer.”
Why people are
Choosing
Retirement Villages
“Whatisclearisthatpeopleenjoy
livinginretirementvillages. More
than 95 per cent of residents indi-
cate village life meets or exceeds
their expectations,” says Mr Giles
pointing out that there are “key
reasons people choose a village”.
Choice, he says, is an important
part of what Retirement Villages
in Australia represent. “Unlike a
move into residential aged care,
which is usually predicated by a
sudden decline in health or es-
calation of a neurodegenerative
disorder, it is important to note
that consumers choose to live in
a retirement village and generally
view this choice as a way of en-
hancing their quality of life.”
Mr Giles says that among these
factors are security and support.

Australiansarelivinglongerthan
ever before, and the older the in-
dividual the more health issues
they are likely to experience. “As
people age and health needs in-
crease, the great lifestyle offer,
down-sizing the requirement for
maintenance of property and
grounds, being able to ‘lock and
leave’ for travelling and social in-
teractions with likeminded and
similar aged people,” becomes
very important.
For the present and the future,
Mr Giles says that “the RVA is
committed to informing and
educating Australians about
why retirement villages are great
places to live and will seek out
opportunities to spread the
word.”

Masonry has its origins in
the building trade and
is one of the oldest “unions” of
workers. Masonic Homes has its
roots with the charitable branch
of this organization, who have
well known interest and have
been great supporters of so-
cial welfare initiatives. With a
marked increase in the number
the Australian population that
is over the age of 65, retirement
and extended care communi-
ties have become increasingly
important. Doug Strain, CEO
of Masonic Homes is very inter-
ested in providing the care best
possible care, improvement of
the standard of living, and clear-
ing up some of the most com-
mon misunderstandings that
the industry currently suffers
from. Founded in the early 60s,
when “aged care” was relatively a
new invention, Strain says that
they have moved much beyond
their original function integrat-
ing new services, and initiatives,
but maintaining close ties with
roots. These roots are especially
important to Strain, when his
father, who was a Mason, passed
when he was a child, the Masons
made sure that they were well
taken care of.
Marketing the old
fashioned way
Some of the greatest advocates
that Masonic Homes has are
its own residents. The fact that
they often provide some of the
most compelling accolades for
the retirement community is
in itself a great success for Ma-
sonic Homes. “Word-of-mouth
is critically important to retire-

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ment villages, who is our great-
est advocates? Our own resi-
dents. It is some of the best sort
of ‘old fashioned’ social media
out there.” Strain says they don’t
actively try to market the vil-
lage, instead spreading the word
about their services though the
best marketers around- their
residents.
Working with the
RVA to change how
people see an
industry
A member of the RVA (Retire-
ment Village Association) they
are committed to increasing the
level of awareness of the services
that retirement villages pro-
vide for, as well as working with
stakeholders to improve the
level of care that they can pro-
vide. Working with the RVA,
Strain hopes that many of the
issues that the retirement vil-
lage industry can be addressed,
mostly through education. “We
work with the RVA in order to
improve the standing of retire-
ment villages. They allow for the
integration and collaboration
on the wider issues of retirement
villages. They are widely misun-
derstood in the communities,
government, and the popula-
tion at large. One of the issues
we face is that the industry is
still rather fragmented, what
we have to do is work on the is-
sue of brand retirement villages.
We came to work with the RVA

around these core issues, and es-
pecially educating the market,”
Strain says it is particularly im-
portant that while working with
the RVA they educated to pub-
lic to what “retirement villages
and what they aren’t.” Collabo-
ration, he says, is the key.
“I think education is the answer
to all things, I think if everyone
was informed that we won’t have
some of the hurt we have going
on right now. I think in the is-
sue of advocacy is important
for older people because right
now, although many of the baby
boomers may look back and be
able to say ‘look we changed the
world’ right now they are cre-
ating a lot of the impediments
that have stopped us from going
forward,” a boomer himself he
does not pull any punches when
discussing his generation. Strain
credits Gen X and Y as the new
agents of change that are hitting
the wall of conservatism pro-
duced by the once liberal boom-
ers.

Facing an aging
population
Although it is predicted that
many Western countries will
be faced with a large popula-
tion over the age of 65 in the
next 15 years, Strain says they
are more concerned at looking
after the needs of “the boomer’s
parents. I would contend that
the retirement village product,
as it operates under the various
retirement village acts is not at-
tractive to a 65 year old. It is a
situation that people, who are
retiring younger, better off, and
in better health- we are looking
at a generation that is expected
to live for another generation
ahead of them. So right now we
are getting two generations in
retirement.” The boomer’s par-
ents are who they have aimed
their services to. He character-
izes potential clients as about 85
years of age, still living in their
own home and still healthy for
the most part. “The huge spike
that we are seeing right now is in
older ages, and that’s the area we
are dealing with right now,” he
says. There are people that are
younger, but we are looking at
service integrated housing
When minor health issues be-
gin to arise, the parents often
feel like they are putting pres-
sure on their children. “It’s not
that the children don’t want to
care for their parents, the par-
ents have lived a long time on
their own and they do not want
to have their kids having to take
care of them- showering them,
toileting them. They like their
independence, and what we are
saying is that retirement villages
are something that they seem to
find very attractive.” Strain says
that many people move into re-
tirement villages, not because
they find their houses and live
unmanageable, but because they
have found that their lives have
gotten “smaller”. With less to
worry about, they often come to
Masonic Homes with an eye to
down size, and still remain part

of a community and mobile.
Like many individuals in the
industry, Strain knows that an
increase in the life expectancy,
thoughonethatmeansthatpeo-
ple are also living longer more
fulfilling lives, also means that
health problems that were once
rare can now become more and
more common place. “Everyone
is saying that by 2020 Alzheim-
er’s and dementia will be a major
issue, I think that a lot of this
has to do with people living lon-
ger. It’s like prostate cancer, I am
sure that there were just as many
incidences of it 20 years ago, but
often people would pass before
the cancer would become termi-
nal.” By employing specialists,
and encouraging educational
institutions to train healthcare
workers coming out of the sys-
tem on how to deal with people
afflicted with the conditions.
“I think that we need to de-
velop a defensive approach, it is
not like that everyone will get
either disease, but we have to de-
velop preventative methods. We
do this now by keeping people
mentally and physically active.
We focus on using subtle trig-
gers that aid with people’s mem-
ories. That is what retirement
villages, and Masonic Homes,
are about: supporting people,”
he says. One trend he has seen
is people self-diagnosing them-
selves as having dementia, when
in fact they have just become
forgetful. There are things that
happen to us all when we age.
Everyone is treated as an indi-
vidual at Masonic Homes, and
they have avoided taking a “one
size fits all” method of organiz-
ing programs. In fact they look
at a multiplicity of activates that
residents can get involved in.
One of the options that Strain
says is both a good idea, and an
indication of our lengthening
lifespans is the “Man Shed”. He
says that this is not the cure all
for retirement living, but inter-
est in it shows something far
more important. “Some blokes’

love the idea of the man shed,
but what I really think is impor-
tant is that we have enough men
to run programs like this. Old
blokes are a fairly new inven-
tion,” he jokes. “We operate on
a diverse offering, each person is
an individual, and each village
that we operate has its own indi-
vidual sense about it.”
Operations
“We operate about 1000 retire-
ment units South Australia in
the Northern Territory. 400 beds
in nursing homes, and about
300 in-home care packages. We
operate with something called
‘hub-sites’. A retirement village
might have 200 units on it; we
then look to settle a satellite vil-
lage 5 to 8 kilometres away from
the hub,” he says describing their
operations. These satellite vil-
lages have about 40 residences
in them, and have a connection
to the main hub site. A larger
network of care expands even
farther than that, maintaining
care for individuals who choose
to remain in their own homes.
“We want to actively grow these
networks and are currently look-
ing at opportunities to expand
into the other adjoining states.”
Strain predicts that in the next 2
or 3 years they will be operating
in other states and creating a na-
tional footprint. One of the great
features of all their operations is
that they create them within al-
ready existing communities. “We
have found that a lot of people
are coming back to where they
had grown up,” says Strain. “They
then reconnect with the commu-
nity that they grew up in.”
All of Masonic Homes’ villages
are run like little cities, he jokes
that the operating directories are
actually town councils. When
issues about roads, streetlights,
walking paths, and even fire
hydrants are raised, Masonic
Homes administers the solu-
tions. “We become the council
services, so it really is a village,
community and township in its

own right.”
All of the villages are located
close to medical faculties, retail
shopping, entertainment, and
transport. “The concept of the
retirement village as being on
the urban fringe is just not sus-
tainable. Just as important to
an older person as a medical fa-
cility is retail, and commercial
operations. Going to see a movie
or being able to walk through a
mall is a good thing,” says Strain.
“We don’t gate our communities,
we see them as active part of the
larger community; so we don’t
think that a retirement commu-
nity is somewhere where you
lock the residents behind a gate,”
he says that one of the best things
that he can see is that the mem-
bers of the villages they manage
are involved in their surround-
ing communities. “We like to see
them volunteering in the local
hospitals, or being involved in a
school or library. We think these
are all fantastic things.” This goes
both ways, says Strain, they also
hope that the communities they
operate in them see that they are
a great place to volunteer as well.
With 600 staff who are prin-
cipally employed in their care
operations, they select their em-
ployees carefully. “The issue of
values is important; we have to
make sure we have people work-
ing with us who empathize with
older people. Among the best
qualifications we look for is their
ability to treat our residents with
dignity and respect. Creativity
and integrity are also something
we look for.”
“In Darwin we are the only op-
erator of retirement villages in
the Northern Territories. “We
are one of the largest of Darwin’s
non-Government employers. In
fact we are the largest builder of
housing outside of the govern-
ment and the mining industry,”
he says try to give a clear picture
of just how large their opera-
tions are right now. For the fu-
ture, Strain says they are going

to concentrate on expansion of
both services and geographic
spread. Also in the near future
the plan on developing a greater
variety in their product offer-
ings reflect Strain’s belief that
there is no one cure for all the
individual needs of Masonic
Homes’ residents. “For housing
we build one bedroom one level
houses, to high-rises and every-
thing between. We are looking
at building more high-rises,” he
says.
He may not think that they are
innovators, but his concern for
the quality of life of the older
generation is truly admirable.
The growth of Masonic Homes
from a charity that he person-
ally respects is something that
is very marked in the everyday
operations of the villages, and
the way that residents are treat-
ed. When any of us are faced
with the choice of moving into
a retirement village, I think
that many can take comfort in
the fact that there are people
out there like Doug Strain, and
places like Masonic Homes that
we can count on.

Since 1990, Country Club
Villages has been operating
in Victoria and has now expand-
ed into Queensland. They are a
premier provider of retirement
lifestyle accommodations and
programs in both geographic
locations. Currently, they have
over 700 residents and are op-
erating at capacity, and are one
of the leading national managers
and developers of retirement liv-
ing residences. Right now their
portfolio consists of over 200
separate units, and is still con-
stantly expanding their offerings
to meet the unprecedented de-
mands that are place on this par-
ticular industry. They operate
with the idea that each person
has earned the right to a worry
free retirement, and they are
working towards creating that
said environment. By offering a
wide variety of living options in
various locations, Country Club
Villages plans to continue their
expansion to meet today’s and
tomorrow’s needs for the retire-
ment industry.
“CCV presently has a portfo-
lio of 10 Retirement Villages at
various stages in their life cycle.
It provides distinguished qual-
ity retirement living for in ex-
cess of 700 residents, with its
mature RVs close to fully occu-
pied. CCV’s management team
has a strong track record of op-
erational excellence and quality
service delivery to residents at
its villages,” says Stewart Gull,
one of the Directors of Country
Club Villages. “Country Club
Village’s impressive record of
continuous RV development is
forecast to continue, with the
current known development
pipeline predicted to deliver
1,303 new units/apartments,”
he says. “Given its attractive mix
of mature villages and the size of
its development pipeline, CCV
represents one of the most sig-
nificant and valuable privately
owned Retirement Village port-
folios in Australia.”
Stewart Gull laid the first block
that was to become Country
Club Villages when he founded
Rosebank Retirement Village
Pty Ltd in 1991. After investi-
gating potential sites for retire-
ment villages, and then joining
the Retirement Village Associa-
tion of Victoria, he commenced
construction of the Charlotte

Street site in Sebastopol near
Ballarat in 1993. In 1996 Gull
became aware that the Lutheran
Church, who had been experi-
encing difficulty over the pre-
ceding years to further develop
their Geelong Grove retirement
village beyond its existing 22
units, was interested in selling.
After careful analysis of the busi-
ness prospects of the property,
Gull entered into an agreement
to purchase Geelong Grove.
“Country Club Villages was
formed at the time of the Gee-
long Grove acquisition, I ac-
quired the village in partnership
with interests associated with
Jim Selkirk. At this time, Rose-
bank was retained outside the
Country Club Village partner-
ship,” says Gull. Over the follow-
ing years, CCV acquired sites at
Hemsley Park, Noosa Domain,
Melba Vale, Bellbrook Gardens,
Bellarine Lakes, Meadow Gar-
dens and Hampton Views, and
continued to develop Geelong
Grove.
Gull is a licensed estate agent
and Director of CCV who pro-
vides guidance to the business.
He also has extensive experience
in the Retirement Village sector,

and has many other successful
business enterprises, including
real estate, commercial and in-
dustrial property, manufactur-
ing, land sub-division and a
substantial farm enterprise. The
other directors of Country Club
Villages are Jim Selkirk and Paul
Burke. Country Club Villages’
portfolio consists over 2000
units, with further expansion
and acquisitions planned in the
near future.
The market for Retirement
Villages is extremely strong in
Australia, and the entire world.
With the world’s demographics
of individuals looking to grow at
twice the rate of the total popu-
lation, and “by 2050 it is expect-
ed that the proportion of popu-
lation aged over 65 will nearly
double to 25 per cent, with the
proportion of people aged over
85 expected to nearly quadruple
to 5 per cent,” says Gull. That
said, interest in the industry has
increased by almost the same
factors. “The Retirement Village
market penetration in Australia
is expected to increase signifi-
cantly, consistent with experi-
ences in more mature overseas
markets,” says Gull. “Following
a period of softening discount
rates, the attractive investment
characteristics of RV assets pres-
ent a particularly strong case for
long term investment,” he re-
ports.
“CCV has one of the most sig-
nificant and valuable RV devel-
opment pipelines in Australia
which, when combined with its
existing portfolio of completed
units, positions it as one of the
largestprivatelyownedforprofit
RV players in Australia and one
of the few remaining privately
owned RV portfolios of scale,”
says Gull, he also says that the
development pipeline has been
significantly de-risked as a result
of the following factors:
•AlltensitesareownedbyCCV

• All sites have received all plan-
ning and development approv-
als;
• CCV adopts a staged devel-
opment approach with exter-
nal fixed cost building arrange-
ments;
• All community facilities are
constructed during Stage 1; and
• Unit construction is either
completed or has commenced
at eight of the ten villages, with
the remaining two expected to
begin in the 2010 calendar year
“With its track record in suc-
cessfully developing Geelong
Grove, Rosebank and Hemsley
Park, CCV’s development pipe-
line is forecast to deliver 989
new Independent Living Units
(ILUs),” and, says Gull, an ad-
ditional 314 other units are also
on the books. “The majority of
units are expected to be con-
structed within the next seven
years. A significant step up in
ILU construction is expected
in the 2011/12 year as devel-
opment at Bellarine Lakes and
Hampton Views commences.
This step up is also underpinned
by existing deposits and holds.”
Country Club Villages has
enjoyed some of its success be-
cause it refuses to do anything
small. When they are presented
with a potential site, they go all
in. “CCVs focus on larger sites
where between 150 and 350
units and apartments can be de-
veloped, this has ensured that
the portfolio does not contain
any smaller inefficient villages
where services fees are insuffi-
cient to maintain CCVs supe-
rior standards,” says Gull.
These standards are implement-
ed across the board and come
from years of experience in the
market. They have standardised
their building practices and de-
veloped their designs with what
works best in mind. “Country
Club Villages have taken a stan-
dardised approach to develop-

ment, such as similar floor plans
across the board, and similar
communal facilities,” says Gull.
“The construction process is
much more streamlined in re-
cent times with the introduction
of concrete panels for ILU’s,” he
says pointing to some of the ad-
vantages they have enjoyed in
the current marketplace. “Vil-
lages have state of the art irriga-
tion systems and communica-
tion and media infrastructure.”
The irrigation system is some-
thing they developed in order
to be more water conscientious,
saving the environment and
their operational costs at the
same time. “Country Club Vil-
lages have implemented water
saving measures such as state of
the art self-watering irrigation
systemsfromstrategicallyplaced
dams; also the implementation
of artificial lawns has greatly de-
creased water usage throughout
the villages,” he says.
Country Club Villages gives
residents the perfect setting to
let them intermingle and enjoy
each other’s similar interests.
There are many organized ac-
tivities that allow residents to
enjoy the full gamut of services
that are offered, but at the same
time respecting their wish for
privacy, letting them choose
their own level of participation.
Country Club Villages strongly
supports the over 55’s life style
and endeavours to make it easy
for them to stay healthy and ac-
tive in doing so.

Maroba was founded by the Islington Baptist Church when three members of the
church raised the funds necessary by mortgaging their own homes. The first build-
ing was a converted maternity cottage in an industrial suburb of Newcastle that the church
ministered to. By the 1960s they required more space and a more modern building. By ob-
taining a grant of land – Aged Care Reserve – in Waratah they were able to accomplish this,
and continued the momentum by developing their Hostel in 1992 and retirement village
in 1999 by opening their 23 villas. Maroba Living Communities has continued to meet the
demand of the market and exceed the expectations of their residents.
“At the moment we care for a hundred residents in our high care facility, which we would
call full nursing care. There are 55 residents living in our ‘low care’ or ‘supported living’
facility. We also have 23 villas within our community. This is all part of the same campus in
Waratah,” says Viv Allanson, CEO of Maroba. Allanson has worked in the health sector her
entire career, but moved into the Aged Care in 1992 and to Maroba in 1994. She was ap-
pointed to the role of CEO in 2000 and has brought a long list of qualifications and health
related insights to Maroba.
“Location, Location, Location”
The village is situated in a prime location that is close to the city, harbour, hospitals, univer-
sity, and train stations. “It’s one of those things that prove how valuable ‘location,’ really is,”

Viv Allanson
CEO

says Allanson. With this ideal
situation they are taking ad-
vantage of a vacant plot of land
made available by the demoli-
tion of the old nursing home.
“We are planning to build 47
apartments on this land which
will be devoted to self-care,” she
says. According to Allanson
most of the development in the
last few years in the industry
has been focused on replacing
and upgrading older buildings.
“There is a mix of development
going on. What I have found
through research and keeping
an eye on the industry is that
there just isn’t enough retire-
ment living building stock in
Australia. We know the need in
our area is very great- right now
we have 160 people waiting for
23 villas. We also have 60 people
who have indicated they would
like one of the 47 units that we
are going to build,” she says, ex-
plaining the demand that has
been placed on the aged-care
industry.
It is clear that the need for their
services and housing is there,
with their proximity to the city
and its amenities they have be-
come an extremely attractive
option for people looking for
retirement living housing and
care. Out of all the other co-lo-
cated aged-care and retirement
villages in the Newcastle area,
says Allanson, Maroba is the
closest to the city’s comforts.
“We also have the interesting
dynamic of being situated in a
long established and long stand-
ing community,” she points out.

This means for residents that
the city’s infrastructure has long
been in place and that the com-
munity is stable. All these fac-
tors makes the services and the
accommodations that Maroba
offers begin to feel like a true
home very quickly.
It isn’t all about long established
traditions, says Allanson, with
the 47 unit apartment complex
that is in the works Maroba
will be breaking new ground
in the retirement village indus-
try for the area. “It will be the
first vertical retirement village
in Newcastle.” The new build-
ing will have 7 levels including
the basement. “Quite a num-
ber of the larger cities already
have these. In Sydney these are
quite common, but here we
have mostly traditional 1 and 2
story buildings,” she says. Verti-
cal is the only way to go for this
site, says Allanson. Many other
retirement villages may be able
to measure their coverage by
the square kilometre because of
their relative distance from cit-
ies, but with Maroba they are
very close to the centre of the
population making expansion
only possible in one direction –
up. While building these new
projects they are also looking at
green technologies and ways to
keep the power flowing. Solar
technology could possibly be
used to offset some of the ener-
gy costs, while generators have
already been installed to guar-
antee that energy will power
their facilities without interrup-
tion. With brownouts becom-
ing more common, this is par-
ticularly important to residents.
What makes this
generation of
retirees different
Expectations of what retirement
living means to potential resi-
dents has changed over the last
50-years that Maroba has oper-
ated. “The finical situation that
people find themselves in upon
entering a retirement commu-
nity is one of the biggest things
that has changed recently. This
has also changed the dynamic
of what we have been able to
deliver,” says Allanson. Many of
the construction projects devel-
oped in the industry have used
bonds to maximize the rate of
expansion. “There are waiting
lists across the whole the sector,
pushing up demand,” she says.
Retirees, coming out of the fi-
nancial crisis are in a far better
position than their parents’ gen-
eration had been. “Even though
their savings where knocked
around a fair bit by the finan-
cial markets, they are pretty well
off.”
Much of the funding for the
higher-care individuals comes
from the government, but one
of their major concerns is that
with funding structures in place
that only allow them to charge
below the market cost of their
services, demand for their ser-
vices might continue to exceed
their ability to supply it.
“Superannuationisthebigthing
weareseeingnow,”saysDirector
of Finance and Corporate Ser-
vices, Chris Boyce. “That didn’t

exist before, but people who are
coming through now might not
have a traditional pension but
they do have a higher level of as-
sets. That means they can afford
better accommodations than
in the past. Back then, there
would have been only a small
percentage of people who could
have done that.”
“The number one attraction
that we have counted on to
entice residents is our reputa-
tion,” says Allanson. “The sec-
ond would be the quality and
contemporary nature of our
buildings, and the third - the
location. We are so well located
in a city, where most others you
have a 40 minutes’ drive out to
where there are limited servic-
es.” Boyce thinks that the more
important thing is that “all the
levels of care are provided on
the one site. This means that if
they need additional care after
moving into a villa or apartment
on the campus, it is not a huge
transition.”
Location and services both
speak to a common subject: po-
tential residents have higher ex-
pectations, and are “savvy about
what they should be getting,”
says Allanson. She says that
part of the “Australian dream,”
is to remain in a single home
for their entire lives, but when
this becomes inconvenient, or
they wish to down size, hav-
ing a place they can call their
own becomes just as important.
“Often parents want to stay at
home for a number of reasons,
they are comfortable where they
are. However as soon as they see
they might be starting to be-
come a burden to their children
they begin to look at their op-
tions.”
Some of the services that both
Allanson and Boyce are ex-
cited about are their organized
events, sport and gaming com-
petitions and of course their
“Men’s Shed”. They have an an-
nual shuffleboard competition,
where the winner gets to bring
home an award. “Its’ great seeing
them so focused on winning,”
says Allanson. “It is part of hu-
man nature to compete and it’s
great to see that spirit in people
in this stage of their lives.” The
‘Men’s Shed’ she says allows
tinkerers and workshop enthu-
siasts to continue their projects
and take courses to improve
their skills, under guidance and
supervision.
Historically, and even today, the
founders, and directors have all
been members of the Islington
Baptist Church. When asked
what has guided Maroba Living
Communities over the years Al-
lanson is quick to point to their
mission statement, saying that
“Maroba is a dynamic Christ
focussed organisation provid-
ing an exciting range of accom-
modation, care, and services to
older citizens.”
According to Allanson the mis-
sion that Maroba is trying to
fulfil, and the one that they were
founded on comes right from
the Book of Mark: “Love your
neighbour as yourself: that’s
what Maroba was founded on
and that’s what Maroba contin-
ues to build on.”

M
ichael Fallon, the Managing Director
of Live Life, begins his description of
Live Life Villages observing the fact
that they are a bit unique, a different flavour, and
are very happy to be in that position.
To best discuss what they do Michael included
some of the significant members of their manage-
ment team to provide a more robust understand-
ing of their operations. He feels that the role that
Kaye Smyth has, as Retirement Living Manager,
in the running of the day to day business of the
villages offers a unique perspective, equally as the
involvement of Kent Fallon as the Development
Manager and manager for both their Greenfield
and Brownfield sites.
“We are a small Queensland based private opera-
tor of retirement villages,” says Michael. “Brook-
land, the oldest village we operate, is just over 25
years old, and in our present form Live Life Vil-
lages has only been in place for 5 or 6 years.” Prior
to Michael’s involvement the Brookland village
was operated by the National Seniors Association.
“They originally started it in Queensland 25 years
ago and eventually decided that they wanted to fo-
cus on broader membership issues rather than con-
tinuing an involvement in the Retirement Village
area. At that time I had been Company Secretary
to the Village operator, and I found the opportu-
nity to match some private investment with their
desire to exit the business,” says Michael.
Live Life Villages has adopted the Queensland
Bottle Tree for their logo as a symbol of their
uniqueness, and the pride they take in doing things
differently, more efficiently, through both the
good times and bad. “Our choice of logo was de-
liberately chosen as it is unique to Queensland and
it has an amazing sustainability system contained
in it which allows it to resilient through drought

and hard times, and then flour-
ish in the good times. It really
describes what we are about,”
says Michael, but the definition
comes from the whole team,
each voicing what they think is
important about this symbol.
To add to this unique feature,
Australian Living Legend Dawn
Fraser AO, MBE is Live Life
Village Ambassador and a very
active member of the team who
promotes our philosophy of
the independent active lifestyle
within both our villages and the
wider community.
The Villages
Brookland Village as seen to-
day was completed in 1994, and
boasts 125 units, but now op-
erates under the Live Life ban-
ner. The Village is located in the
southern suburbs; a short dis-
tance from Brisbane’s CBD and
has the advantage of a generous
green space within the village.
There is ongoing refurbishment
of the units and the village as a
whole, in line with a master plan
established in conjunction with
leading Queensland architects,
Riddle Architecture. Council
development approval is already
in place to redevelop the centre
of the site with the addition of
90 units in a medium height
apartment complex. “The cur-
rentdesignisthetraditionalvilla
type village, and we are looking
at replacing the central section,
including the community centre
to provide additional accom-
modation and facilities within
a multi-level building. This will
allow us have more than 200
live-in units, without losing the
benefits of the current green
space” says Michael.
Brookland Village was followed
by the second village of Samford
Grove located at in Brisbane’s
outer north-west suburbs, but
still within the city limits. This
is a relatively new development
with 27 units constructed so far.
“On the site of the present vil-
lage we are looking to expand
it to about 106 units, and there
maybe an extension on an ad-
joining block that will take that
number up to 135 units,” he
says. The goal is to maintain the
character of the village, and de-
velop the additional residential
properties as independent living
housing.
Maleny Grove, Live Life’s most
recently created village, is lo-
cated on the Blackall Range in
Sunshine Coast hinterland and
is designed in keeping with the
environmental features of the

area. “We actually have two
parcels of land on which the re-
tirement village will ultimately
be. The first had already been
approved for retirement village
development for 45 units, plus
a community centre,” he says.
The land adjacent to, Live Life’s
Greenfield site has been zoned
for a residential subdivision, but
application has been sought for
rezoning to accommodate their
plans for a second stage of their
Maleny Grove development.
This will allow them to extend
the scope of the development to
approximately 150 living units.
The idea that
built a village
“The philosophy of Live Life
Village’s is probably a bit dif-
ferent from other offerings out
there,” says Michael. “Our dif-
ference is that we tend to have
slight more land component per
unit in our villages. For example,
Brookland has the lowest den-
sity of units of villages in south-
east Queensland providing larg-
er green spaces for residents to
enjoy.” He says this low popula-
tion, large open spaces applies to
all of their developments and de-
velopment plans. “Maleny, when
finished, will only have slightly
less than 25 per cent coverage of
the land, and major preservation
efforts will be exercised to main-
tain green tracts.” Michael states
that these are villages that are
not at the connoisseur end, nor
at the affordable housing retire-
ment model, but a very happy
place between the two.
“I see that there are three differ-
ent segments in the retirement
village market; one is what I
describe as concierge type of
village, where they offer every-
thing, like a piano bar and the
rest. At the other end is afford-
able housing, and we are in the
middle occupying what we call
the boutique type housing,” says
Michael.
He says that one of the things
that they have to face every day
is the public perception of what
aged care is verses the reality
of what retirement villages are.
“Our villages are not aged care
but rather independent living
units with supported services
options for active lifestyle re-
tirees”. Michael says that this
is where they differ from the
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common perception. We pro-
vide independent living homes
and communities and provide
residents with the opportunity
to take advantage of the Com-
monwealth funding for Aging
in Place. We promote initiative
by providing support services as
the resident may need them,” he
explains.
Retirees often enter villages with
a desire to unburden themselves
of some of the responsibilities
of upkeep and maintenance
that living in large family homes
often requires. With these re-
sponsibilities removed, this of-
ten frees them to pursue a more
active but relaxed retirement
lifestyle and enjoy the benefits
of the facilities provided within
the village. “It also gives them
more sense of community and
opportunities for social inter-
action. Those are the main fo-
cuses of the early stages.” Later,
he points out, concerns for their
continued health may become
apparent. The support servic-
es available to them can range
from unit cleaning, meal cater-
ing, personal and medication
administration support.
Supporting our
residents
Kaye Smyth adds that with
medication support they do not
dispense the medication; rather
Care Facilitators monitors the
medication intake. “Our team
goes further in general, we pro-
vide support for the physical,
as well as the personal aspect.
Our Care Facilitators monitor,
support, and provide these ad-
ditional services to residents as
required to allow them to age in
place; maintaining their inde-
pendenceforanextendedperiod
of time,” she said. “It is our belief
that most people will be able to
age in place in their retirement
village home for the remainder
of their lives. We do not see the
same degree of need for people
to move to aged care as was the
case 20 years ago.” She adds that
there are exceptions for this and
says that advanced Dementia,
Alzheimer’s, and extreme mo-
bility needs will, of course, re-
quire specialised aged care that
they cannot provide. “Even pal-
liative care can co-ordinate by
us should our residents’ require
this service,” she says.

“One of the important technologies that they have
implemented to make sure that their residents can
contact the 24 hour personal emergency services
that Live Life provides is the INS LifeGuard sys-
tem. This system can alert staff to situations from
falls to tap left running”, says Kent Fallon.
“We have implemented this technology in all of
our new build and villages. We are also looking
at ways to expand this service to include mobile
phones and other devices in home, but right now,
what INS provides for us is very important of our
operations,” he says. “The personal emergency call
button allows us to monitor residents while they
are in their units and at locations around the vil-
lage. In time, this will be expanded to when resi-
dents are out in the broader community.”
Kent says that Live Life are actively working with
INS to identify how they can expand this service
and develop new ones for their residents. He gives
one example of how it is already used as a very
smart non-intrusive way in order to passively keep

an eye on their resident’s safety.
“Utilising the INS technology
that is built into our Maleny
units, there is a switch on our
hot water tanks that acts as a
timer. If the hot water is run-
ning for more than 20 minutes,
it will send off a signal to the
emergency response system and
a phone call is placed to the resi-
dents to see if they are in need
of assistance,” says Kent. He says
that resident falls are more like-
ly in the bathroom, so systems
like this is potentially lifesaving.
He also believes this unitive is
important as it cuts down the
possibility of having to do spot
checks and thus maintains the
dignity and privacy of the resi-
dents in the villages.
The changing face
of retirement
Many things have noticeably
changedwiththemake-upofthe
ageing community, both Kaye
and Michael said. While people
20 or 30 years could work in one
industry for their whole work-
ing life and then retire at 65,
they are now finding two things.
Firstly, a couple of decades ago,
post retirement, life continued
expectancy was on average just
10 years, but now people could
be looking at active living for
another 20 or 30 years. The sec-
ond change noted is people re-
tiring before they really want to
preferring to continue to remain
in the workforce. Both predict
that the mandatory retirement
age will be raised in the near fu-
ture. This means that the retire-
ment accommodation industry
was developed “for people who

lived a few years beyond the av-
erage life expectancy,” and was
not devoted to long term active
living the way that Live Life Vil-
lages is.
“The life expectancy and the
life style expectations of people
over 65 has shifted dramati-
cally over recent times. This is
an evolution that we celebrate.
At Brookland we have a 15 resi-
dent who are members of the
Over-90’s-Club, and it’s great.”
They also point to a study con-
ducted in the United States that
has shown that living in a retire-
ment village could even possibly
extend the average person’s life
by an additional five years.
In the past men‘s life expectan-
cy was not as high as women,
but as the general population’s
health improved so did their
life expectancy improved. Men
are now embracing retirement
village lifestyle in record num-
bers and the industry is adapt-
ing. Kaye Smyth says that there
are a couple of noticeable trends
appearing. Single men entering
the retirement communities are
describing it as “man heaven”
because they are still a bit of a
minority commodity. The other
is that males sometimes have a
bit more difficulty participat-
ing in group activities. “Men are
less adapted to socialising than
women, so we cater to their in-
terests as well. For example, we
had two gentlemen who were
very interested in aeroplanes,
and we were able to link them
up together so they could share
their common interest. We
found almost immediately that
they started more functions and
were more socially engaged,”
says Kaye.
For the near future, Live Life
Villages plan to grow the busi-
ness but maintain its boutique
qualities. “In the next five years
I can see us operating a num-
ber of additional villages with
an average of 150 to 200 units
in each village,” says Michael.
“We already have our next vil-
lage site in place – and this
again is strategically positioned
as more of a boutique inner city
village.” Michael sees that there
are still plenty of opportunities
to expand in Queensland, and
believes that Live Life Villages
has a lot to offer the retirement
community there. Their mes-
sage is certainly appealing. “Our
aim is to respect the dignity of
the resident by allowing them to
maintain an independent life-
style with support where need-
ed from us. We do this in an
environment that promotes an
active, Queensland retirement
lifestyle and an opportunity to
Live Life.”

TerraNova Homes & Care have one of the most unique aged care
groups in New Zealand. Within the Auckland Region they have res-
idential care facilities called West Harbour Gardens, Jervois, Warrengate,
and Papatoetoe. In Taupo they operate out of Monte Vista; in Hawke’s
Bay out of Brittany House; and in Lower Hutt out of Riverleigh. One of
the advantages if having all these locations under one operation is that
staff can freely move from one area to the other, and shortages can be
quickly rectified. This also allows residents to have mini-vacations to oth-
er locations operated under the umbrella of TerraNova Homes & Care.
Focusing on Care
Janet Cohen, CEO of TerraNova Homes & Care, has worked within
health industry in Australia for over 30 years. She has applied her exper-
tise and knowledge to developing TerraNova as a leading provider of aged
care in New Zealand. “We like to think of ourselves as a health care pro-
vider, we don’t operate villages or independent living accommodations so
our core business is aged health care. For us that means making life better
for older people. Quite often when people come in older age care they re-
ally think it’s the end of the line for them, and are often very depressed,”
she says. “We like to offer them a new lease on life, so we are very commit-
ted to not only optimising their healthcare so that they can enjoy life, but
also providing them activities for them to do to make the most of life.”
Individual Care, Individual Tastes
Their strategy is two tiered; the first part of it is that they offer special-
ized food services. TerraNova has just had all of their menus changed by
a well-known national chef that offers not overly complex dinner choices
but great home style cooking. This required a complete retraining of their
staff, but it has been received among the residents well.
Presentation of food has been an important change in the dining room
as well; Cohen believes that part of what is appetising about a meal is
how it looks on a plate. “It should be presented in a manner that tanta-
lizes the taste buds,” she says, but stresses that it should not be over the
top. The reason for this is that the elderly often want to have traditional
home cooked style meals rather than then something extravagant. Find-
ing the exactly right food hasn’t always been easy says Cohen, people have

different tastes. So, finding the
right balance between nutrition
and taste, and then taking into
account the individual tastes of
their clients they have prepared
a menu that should leave every-
one happy and looking forward
to dinner.
Improving Lives by
Granting Wishes
Enhancing life style is the other
important strategy that they
are working very hard on. One
of the programs that is covered
under the Life Enhancement
Programme, one Cohen is very
excited about, is called the Wish-
ing Tree. “It was an initiative
that was originally developed by
our Hastings facility, Brittany
House. The Wishing Tree won
the New Zealand Health Care
Providers Excellence in Care
“Innovative Delivery Award” in
2007. All our facilities have now
adopted it. It takes dedication
from their staff to make this hap-
pen,” and Cohen likes to point it
out as an example of their dedi-
cation. “The Wishing Tree works
when a resident says that they
would like to go whale watch-
ing at Kaikoura, as an example,”
says Cohen. “They hang their
wish on the tree, the staff then
do fund raising activities around
it and when they raise the funds
they can then send someone off
to go whale watching.” They have
had numerous requests, from the
simple ones like sending a couple
back to the place they got en-
gaged, to people who want to go
tandem sky diving. Cohen says
that this shows a zeal for life that
even surprises her, but gives her
much heart. One of the ones she
remembers best is two elderly
women (75 and 92 years of age)
decided they wanted to go sky-
diving, something she would al-
most certainly does not want to
do herself. “I get nervous enough
at ground level, I couldn’t imag-
ine doing that, but they did!”
Cohen chuckles.
As stated before, the wishing tree
program has gained industry rec-
ognition and applause with sev-
eral other companies have taken
TerraNova’s lead and adopted
similar programs themselves. In

this case imitation is truly the
greatest form of flattery. This has
also provided staff and volun-
teers a great focus for fund rais-
ing activities. She sees each wish
grantedasatestamenttotheded-
ication of their staff, and finds it
hard to even say which wish was
the most “heart rending”. “Each
wish is equally important, and
it’s hard for me to pick one that
touched me more than another,”
says Cohen.
Listening to Their
Resident
Constant feedback from both
residents and staff has allowed
them to stream line their process
and provide the best care pos-
sible. Using a balanced score card
system they are able to rate risks
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their residents and react quickly
with a solid process in place. This
process identifies where there is
theriskofpotentialadverseevent
occurring through a series of key
performance indicators. The bal-
anced score guides the manage-
ment decisions and enables the
rapid correction of potentially
unsafe situations from eventuat-
ing. “When a facility is deemed
to be at risk, we have a pathway
which allows quick steps to take
that will mitigate the potential of
an adverse event. For example if
someone falls often, a special care
pathway and observations will be
applied to that individual,” says
Cohen. Her greatest desire is to
maintain every person’s dignity
and independence so TerraNova
takes that into account with ev-
ery action.
Thinking Small and
Making a Big
Impact
Cohen says they maintain the
mindset of a small corporate
with a big heart, and this, over
all, allows them to treat each per-
son in their care as an individual.
Being treated like an individual is
one of the things that TerraNova
does best, and it is through this
personalized care that they have
continued to carve out a name
forthemselvesasthepremiercare
provider for older New Zealand-
ers. If everyone had someone like
TerraNova looking out for them
in their golden years aging would
be something you could look
forward too.

Barossa Village was established in 1963, and has since its creation been devoted to
the aged care of Barossa and the surrounding communities. Their expertise and
professionalism was recognized in 2008 when they received the National Retirement
Living Organisation of the Year Award. Located in Australia’s most famous wine re-
gions, the Barossa Valley, they offer older Australians some real options in quality of
life living and care. Phillip Schmaal, CEO of Barossa Village, took the time to sit down
with us and tell us why this is not only a famous tourist stop over, but a great area in
which individuals are choosing to spend their golden years.
“Barossa village is a public benevolent institution – a charitable organization that was
set up around 50 years ago by the local community,” says Schmaal. The organisation was
created to fill a need in the community for quality care and housing for older Austra-
lians. As the need grew, so did the organisation. “The village is involved in all aspects
of aged care from retirement living through to home care, residential services, and full

time care,” he says. “We are try-
ing to become a one stop shop in
order to cater to all the people’s
needs - from the time they need
to downsize, being still indepen-
dent, but they need to down
size. Be it from a farm or a fam-
ily home to something a little
bit smaller; through to provid-
ing them with care within their
own home; through to the point
should they need to move into
a nursing type home to provide
the care they need.” Schmaal
describes their approach as a
complete solution that is as at-
tractive as possible, and one that
maintains individual’s freedom
while maximizing their quality
of life.
A self-described “Barossa Boy”
Schmaal has a particular interest
in ensuring that the community
has continued support from
organisations like Barossa Vil-
lage. He spent much of his life
travelling across Australia when
he was involved in the wine in-
dustry, eventually becoming in-
volved with the not-for-profit
industry. This road eventually
led him back home, and in a way
reunited him with some of the
wines he loves. Schmaal speaks
with passion no matter what the
topic is, and is always ready with
a good wine suggestion.
Regional South Australia, has
some of the highest proportion
of aging and older individuals.
As such the organisation already
plays an important role in the
community, but with record
numbers of people expected to
reach ages over 65 in the next
few years, Barossa will become
even more vital to the commu-
nity. “As such we are certainly
on the forefront of seeing the
impact of an aging population
on our local community. We
already have to deal with the
increase in demands and expec-
tations for the industry,” says
Schmaal. “We are just starting
tom see an impact from the baby
boomers who are coming into
that market. Their expectations,
of course are very different from
their parent’s.” This is a common
theme across the world. With a
generation that has worked hard
and is relatively financially in-
dependent from their children,

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they can for almost the first time
afford something that is very im-
portant to anyone at any stage of
their lives – Choice.
“Actively Engaged in Ageing” is
Barossa Village’s motto, and of
course has more than one mean-
ing. To the staff it means that
they are engaged with their resi-
dents, providing them with the
services and care they expect.
For the residents, it is a promise
that getting old does not mean
their lives will be any less active
or fulfilling. In fact the programs
at Barossa Village are meant to
reengage them and provide them
the opportunities to lead a more
active life style than they would
have without support or specific
services. “Retirement housing is
no longer what we used to call
“God’swaitingroom”,whatithas
become is a place where people
can expect and get a full house
with a lock up garage, continued
access, the extra bed room where
grandchildren can stay over,” he
says. Among the other amenities
are larger rooms garages and car
ports that provide for the con-
tinuing mobility and activity of
seniors.
“Something that we are doing,
and this was part of the reason
that we got the National Retire-
ment Living Organisation of
the Year Award for 2008-2009
from our peers in the industry,
is that traditionally retirement
living has been in large retire-
ment villages, but we are seeing
something of a large sea change.
People, we have been seeing, still
want to be part of a local com-
munity, especially when it means
staying close to friends and fam-
ily. They don’t necessarily want
to be fenced off from the com-
munity in retirement housing.
So what we have been construct-
ing and are continuing to build
are cluster style retirement cot-
tages. So, these are within the
local community surrounded by
other houses,” Schmaal says that
they build them in groups of five
or six, but make sure that exist-
ing neighbourhoods. “Over the
back fence you can hear children
playing, you are still very much a
part of the local community. It’s
this great intergenerational con-
nectivity that we are promoting.”

This also allows them to place
the accommodations within easy
reach of local doctors, shopping
and other services. Within their
extend care within their units
and home care options, Barossa
health professionals as well as lo-
cal GPs make the rounds provid-
ing personalised care and regu-
lar check-ups. Meals and home
maintenance are also provided,
and any issues or required sup-
port is only a phone call away.
Each unit in their retirement vil-
lages has a direct line to Barossa’s
on duty support staff. With over
100 full time equivalent staff
members, including registered
nurses, hospitality staff, admin-
istration, and even contractors
who are there especially to care
for individuals staying in their
own homes. With in-home sup-
port, staff responsibilities can
run the gamut of simply helping
with the house work, to cleaning
the gutters, to more advanced
care when they require assis-
tance in showering and eating.
These are regular visits, Schmaal
explains, and they can count on
the staff working there.
Activities are an important part
of life at Barossa Village, and
Schmaal is very excited at the
opportunities that they can pro-
vide their residents. The Tinker’s
Shed is one of Schmaal’s favou-
rites,buttheyprovideafullrange
of activities catered to the inter-
ests of their residents. Being in
wine country it would be remiss
not to mention that with every
meal residents have the choice to
get either their favourite beer, or
one of the fine vintages available
in from the Barossa Valley.
In all, Schmaal says that they
workhardtocreateaplacewhere
the needs of their residents are
met, and their expectations ex-
ceeded. So far, with praise from
theirpeersandresidentsitwould
seem they are meeting their own
lofty goals.

Arcadia Waters Retirement
Villages are not your or-
dinary retirement communi-
ties. This is because its founder
Roger Kwok created these com-
munities with his own family
in mind, and the concerns and
hopes that only a family can gen-
erate. Although they did not live
to see its completion they would
surely be proud of the work their
son has done in providing great
locations and vibrant culture
for retirees. This Perth centric
group of villages aims to provide
its residents with the look, feel,
and lifestyles that people would
expect from resort living, rather
than your regular retirement
village. Although there are no
official monuments to his par-
ents, Roger Kwok, says that ev-
ery resident knows the story of
the formation of Arcadia Waters
Retirement Villages. They have
about 300 residents at their vil-
lages, and Kwok makes it a point
to meet and know all of them.
He feels it is important if they
want to provide individual care
and service.
“We used to visit my parents on
a fairly regular basis once every
two or three weeks,” he says.
“The occasion arose that both
of my parents became danger-
ously sick. My wife and I were
not aware of it, and being older
people they didn’t want to tell
anyone. So when we went to vis-
it them we found out how sick
they were and they were hospi-
talized and we nearly lost them,”
says Kwok. This was the germi-
nationofathought,theveryfirst
seed was planted. Kwok began
to look for retirement villages
that could supply exactly what
he expected from them. To his
dismay, it was a fruitless search.
“We realized that we cannot af-
ford to leave elderly people on
their own,” says Kwok. He also

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