Accreditation creates industry-wide best-practice systems and processes. To be ‘accredited,' a village must meet 29 set requirements, each with a number of major elements to be achieved. Its implementation creates benchmarks that allow prospective residents to know that a village meets the highest service and facility standards. Villages are expected to emphasise vibrant ‘designed' communities.

To gain accreditation, the village must be assessed on the established standards by an independent survey team of two or more people. The survey team tours the village for a full day or more if necessary, conducting meetings with village management, village staff and residents to find out how they rate the services, facilities and general village environment. Things like ‘dignity, privacy and confidentiality' are also audited.

Once the assessment is complete the survey team meets again with management and other stakeholders to discuss their findings and, where necessary, offer advice on what can be improved. The survey team then compiles a report which is passed to the RVA's Accreditation Committee for consideration.

Accredited villages must undergo the entire process every three years in order to maintain their status. High standards must be sustained. Accredited villages are required to produce an annual report on their benchmarks and activities.

Continuous improvements in the areas of management, staff training, resident involvement, health and safety, and service provision are expected. Managers are also expected to show greater leadership ability and financial skill. Residents should have dialogue with management and be better informed on developments and have input in village operations.

Many villages are currently undergoing accreditation but they cannot display the accreditation symbol until they have completely satisfied the National Accreditation Committee.

Villages that have achieved RVA accreditation are identified in our Villages Directory Listing.

"We all want a clear and simple understanding of what we are buying into. The retirement village industry has done a lot of work in developing an accreditation system to help you with the process," Jane Holdsworth, RVA CEO.