Transforming retirement living through customer experience

Op-ed by Stephanie Cittarelli, CX expert and head of customer experience, carepage, for Hello Leaders

A silver tsunami and rising expectations

Australia’s 75-plus cohort is projected to surge from 2 million to 3.7 million by 2040. As Baby Boomers arrive, they bring higher expectations for autonomy, connectivity and choice. They won’t settle for yesterday’s institutional models; they want communities that enable purpose and vibrant living. Customer experience (CX) is now the true differentiator.

That message rang loud at the 2025 National Retirement Living Summit. Under the banner “Transforming the industry together,” leaders challenged us to re-imagine everything — from village design and wellness programs to funding models and complaints processes — through a CX lens.

From care to experience: what today’s residents really want

1 Reassurance of care, on their terms
Dr Brett Robinson (Retire Australia) highlighted the new baseline: “Residents don’t want institutional care; they want independence, support on demand and control.” 75 % of newcomers now ask first about future care, not day-one services. Villages must therefore offer a clear, flexible pathway to clinical support, without making it the focus of daily life.

2 A hospitality-grade lifestyle every day
Once that safety net is assured, expectations pivot to lifestyle enrichment. As Keyton’s Kara Jones noted, running a village increasingly feels like hospitality, not health care — curating events, wellness programs and micro-moments that delight residents and their families.

3  Co-design through always-on feedback
Anyone who spoke with me at the Summit heard my mantra: always-on feedback loops let residents co-design their experience in real time, so every digital, social and physical touchpoint feels personal and empowering.

When older Australians see that a retirement village delivers both — the security of care if required and a vibrant, resort-style lifestyle today — interest soars and lasting loyalty follows.

Designing communities for well-being and connection

Daniel Gannon (Property Council of Australia) reminded us that purpose-built villages already deliver big public-health wins: roughly 14,000 avoided hospital admissions each year because homes are designed for ageing bodies. Residents are 15 % more active, 41 % happier and far less lonely than peers in traditional housing—proof that a CX-first approach drives real outcomes.

Tech-savvy seniors demand innovation

Baby Boomers arrive with Netflix passwords, smartphones, and expectations of 24/7 connectivity. Summit panellists, from CIOs to village managers, showcased voice-activated units, app-based community hubs and tele-wellness suites. If a village can’t stream the footy in 4K or support real-time video calls with grandkids, it’s already behind.

Listening through always-on feedback

📊 47 complaints in a year: Daniel Gannon revealed that only 47 formal complaints were lodged with the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal by retirement-village residents in 2023-24.

On the surface, that’s a triumph. But silence can’t be mistaken for success. Low complaint numbers might reflect well-run communities, yet they can just as easily expose gaps in listening systems. Continuous, multi-channel feedback ensures every voice, especially the quiet ones, is heard and acted on.

Raising standards and trust

Greater transparency builds CX confidence. The Retirement Living Code of Conduct now covers approximately 40% of independent-living units, but uptake must accelerate. Flexible financial models, highlighted by Rachel Lane’s session on exit-fee myths, also smooth the customer journey. Clear, jargon-free contracts and optional “no-exit-fee” pathways can turn the sales process from stressful to empowering.

A call to action

The Summit’s collective wisdom boils down to this: We are in the quality-of-life business. If we embrace customer-experience thinking — listening relentlessly, designing for wellbeing, harnessing technology and raising our service bar — we’ll convert the coming silver tsunami into a golden age for retirement living.

Let’s keep collaborating, innovating and, above all, listening. Our future residents will thank us — loudly and often — if we get CX right today.