AUSTRALIAN UNITY

Aged Care & Retirement Villages

ESTABLISHED IN 1840, Australian Unity was the country’s first memberowned wellbeing company, delivering health, wealth and care services. Being a member-governed company (or mutual) gives Australian Unity the freedom to invest money back into the services and solutions that matter most to its members. Starting out as a provider of retirement living through the acquisition of existing retirement communities, Australian Unity has grown to become a developer of new retirement communities throughout New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, as well as a provider of aged care, home and disability services. Beverly Smith, Executive General Manager of Residential Communities, said community connectedness is one of the seven pillars of Australian Unity’s Wellbeing Index and is a guiding principle of our holistic model of care called Better Together®. “This model of care creates a sense of connection and community for residents and is expressed in built form through the creation of small households with higher staff-toresident ratios, and is consistent with the Aged Care Royal Commission’s recommendations.” Consistent with Australian Unity’s pursuit of accelerated-growth opportunities in healthy ageing precincts, the mutual recently acquired the Greengate retirement and agedcare business, comprising three established co-located communities – two in Sydney and one in Brisbane. Australian Unity has also acquired a prime development site in Brisbane that has already been approved for a vertical retirement village and residential aged-care precinct. As with most of the existing Australian Unity portfolio, the Greengate precincts will offer continuum of care options and operate on the small-household model.

● www.australianunity.com.au/ readersdigest