Retirement Village Manager
Retirement village managers run the day-to-day operations of a village, from the budget and maintenance to the services that help older residents keep living independently.
- Median salary*
- $109,200
4.3%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 1,300
0.0%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +9.3%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Moderate
- 6 out of 10
- Average hours
- 40/wk
matches all-jobs average
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
- The work sits on the property and services side of retirement living rather than the clinical side, so a village manager coordinates the care providers who visit residents instead of delivering care.
- Most are employed by private village operators or not-for-profit groups, and they are the person residents, families and contractors turn to when something needs fixing, explaining or deciding.
- Village rules, contracts and exit fees are set by state legislation, which shapes a large part of the job.
How much do retirement village managers earn?
The median full-time salary for a retirement village manager is $109,200 per annum, before tax, up $23,100 since 2018.
Pay reflects the size of the village you run, because a site with 200 units carries more staff, a larger budget and more reporting than one with 40. The operator matters as well, since large groups and not-for-profits usually set their own bands while a small family-run village may negotiate with one person. Some roles include on-site accommodation or a bonus tied to unit sales, and where the position is covered by an enterprise agreement that agreement sets the rate.
What does a retirement village manager do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Managing the village budget, including the fees that come in as units are sold or vacated
- Coordinating maintenance and repairs across units, gardens and shared facilities
- Attending residents' committee meetings and following up on the concerns raised there
- Keeping records and reporting up to date under the state's retirement villages legislation
- Rostering village staff and contractors, and working with the home care providers who visit residents
What skills do retirement village managers need?
Employers look for operations management, budgeting and forecasting, regulatory compliance, backed by Yardi fluency and strong customer service.
Specialist skills
- Operations management
- Budgeting and forecasting
- Regulatory compliance
Software and tools
- Yardi
- Xero
- Deputy
- Microsoft Office
- Resident management systems
General skills
- Customer service
- People leadership
- Stakeholder management
- Problem solving
- Written communication
Is the job growing?
About 1,300 people work as retirement village managers in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 9.3% over the decade to 2035. That's modest growth: demand is steady rather than booming.
How do you become a retirement village manager?
Here's the path most retirement village managers take, step by step.
- 1Build experience inside a village first
Most managers arrive from a village coordinator, assistant manager, property management or aged care background. The resident-facing side of the job, from running a committee meeting to explaining an exit fee, is learned on site rather than in a classroom.
- 2Study for a business or property qualification
A Diploma of Business (BSB50120) or a Diploma of Property Services (Agency Management) covers the budgeting, staffing and reporting parts of the role. A Certificate IV in a related field is a common starting point for people already working in the sector.
- 3Learn your state's retirement villages legislation
Each state and territory has its own retirement villages legislation covering contracts, exit fees, village budgets and dispute resolution, so the rules you need to know depend on where you work.
- 4Get the checks employers ask for
A national police check is standard, a working with children check is often required for village events, and first aid training is worth having because you are frequently the first person on the scene of a fall or illness.
- 5Move up through a larger operator
Larger village groups promote coordinators into manager roles and move managers between sites, which is the usual route for someone who wants to run a bigger village or several of them.
Study that can help
No set qualification is needed for this role in our data. These qualifications are not required, but the study can help.
- Diploma of BusinessDiploma
Teaches managing budgets, financial plans and resources, which run through village management.
- Certificate IV in Leadership and ManagementCertificate IV
Teaches leading a team and building workplace relationships, useful when working with staff, contractors and residents.
- Bachelor of Business (Management)Bachelor degree
Covers operations, people management and decision making, which running a village budget and team involves.
Prefer something shorter?
A short course can build some of these skills without a full qualification. These aren't accredited, and we don't rank or recommend providers: compare a few before you commit.
Management and leadership
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Business
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Ready to apply as a retirement village manager?
Whether you're working toward becoming a retirement village manager or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a retirement village manager move to?
Moving into General Manager typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $39,000 a year more on average.
- General ManagerRecorded move$148,200+$39,000
- Primary Health Network ManagerSuggested move$145,600+$36,400
- Aged Care ManagerSuggested move$117,000+$7,800
- Community Services ManagerSuggested move$113,900+$4,700
Thick lines are moves people were recorded making in Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility (income tax records, 2011-12 to 2020-21). Thin lines are moves we suggest from skill overlap and entry requirements.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
General Manager Leverages operational and financial management of a residential community in a broader general management role, though further study in business management is needed.Known move | +$39,000 | 45% | reskill |
Primary Health Network Manager Applies oversight of community services to primary health network management, but further qualifications in health administration are needed. | +$36,400 | 45% | reskill |
Aged Care Manager Brings management of retirement village operations to aged care management, though additional study in aged care is required. | +$7,800 | 93% | reskill |
Community Services Manager Uses experience in resident services to manage broader community programs, though a community services qualification is required. | +$4,700 | 71% | reskill |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as a retirement village manager?
The typical retirement village manager is 54 years old; 69% are women, 80% work full-time, and full-timers average 40 hours a week.
- 54
- Median age
- 69%
- Female share
- 80%
- Full-time
- +0h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a retirement village manager?
Village management runs on a steady weekly rhythm of meetings, maintenance lists and reporting, interrupted by whatever a resident knocks on the door about. It suits someone who is comfortable being the most visible person on site and can hold a budget line and a difficult conversation on the same day. Hours are usually regular office hours, with on-call or after-hours contact depending on the operator.
What people like
- You see the results in the village. A repaired path, a new bus timetable or a revived social calendar shows up within days, and the residents who benefit are people you know by name.
- Responsibility for a whole site. You hold the budget, the staff and the contractors rather than one slice of them, which gives you room to decide how the place is run.
- Long relationships with residents. People often stay for years, so you learn the families, the histories and the preferences, and that continuity makes the hard conversations easier.
- A mix of property and people. The week alternates between maintenance schedules and compliance paperwork on one hand and resident conversations on the other, which suits people who like both.
What people find hard
- Families at difficult moments. Moves into care, a death in the village or a dispute over a contract land on your desk, and you are the person who has to explain and hold the line.
- Paperwork under the legislation. Contracts, exit fee statements, village budget disclosures and incident reports generate a large amount of documentation, and it has to be right.
- You are the escalation point. Noise complaints, contractors who do not turn up and after-hours emergencies all end with you, which can mean calls outside ordinary working hours.
- Budgets limit what you can fix. Residents often want everything repaired immediately, and the village budget and the returns owed to owners decide what actually gets done this year.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ retirement village managers?
Health Care and Social Assistance employs the largest share of retirement village managers, followed by Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services.
Top employing industries
- 1Health Care and Social Assistance
- 2Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 27.4% | |
|---|---|---|
| Year 12 or below | 23% | |
| Bachelor degree | 17.3% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 16.5% | |
| Postgraduate | 7.6% |
Will AI replace retirement village managers?
Moderate exposure. Not replaced, but changed. AI is taking on some tasks and the rest of the job shifts around them.
Automation reaches the administrative side of this job more than the resident side. Budget models, exit fee calculations, rostering and compliance reporting all run through software now, and village management systems track maintenance jobs and resident requests automatically. What the software cannot do is read a room, settle a dispute between two residents, or judge when a family needs a gentler conversation about moving to care.
How a typical week splits
- Budgets, fees and owner reporting20% of the week
Exit fee calculations and monthly financial packs are largely generated by the accounting software, leaving the manager to interpret the figures and explain them to owners.
- Rostering and contractor scheduling20% of the week
Tools like Deputy build rosters around award rules and fill shifts from a pool, but the manager still decides who works where and handles the gaps.
- Resident records and maintenance job tracking25% of the week
Systems such as Yardi log requests, schedule contractors and flag overdue jobs, but someone still has to inspect the work and tell the resident when it will happen.
- Resident meetings, complaints and family conversations35% of the week
Sitting with a residents' committee through a disagreement about parking, or helping a family understand a contract, depends on local knowledge and trust that no chatbot supplies.
How we work this out
We break each job into its main tasks, estimate the share of a typical week each one takes, and judge how far current AI and automation tools reach into it. The score out of 10 starts from the job's overall rating (low is 1 to 3, moderate 4 to 6, high 7 to 10) and the task split places it within that range. Source: Career Tips analysis of each role's main tasks.
Moves least exposed to AI
These career moves from retirement village manager work are rated low for AI exposure:
- Primary Health Network Manager
Solid skill overlap (45%), reskill to get there, and a low automation-risk profile.
Common questions about becoming a retirement village manager
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do retirement village managers earn?
Retirement village managers earn a median of $109,200 per annum, before tax. Pay moves mainly with the size of the village and the type of operator, and some roles include on-site accommodation or a bonus linked to unit sales.
How do you become a retirement village manager?
Most people enter through a coordinator, property management or aged care role and add a diploma in business or property services along the way. You also need a working knowledge of your state's retirement villages legislation and the usual police and background checks.
Are retirement village managers in demand?
Retirement village managers are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 9.3% over the decade to 2035. Vacancies are concentrated among the larger operators, so experience in a village or a related property role is what opens the door rather than the qualification alone.
Will AI replace retirement village managers?
No, but it is changing the administrative half of the job. Software already handles budgeting and exit fee calculations, rostering, compliance reporting and the logging of maintenance requests, while resident meetings, complaints and family conversations remain face to face.
Where can retirement village managers move next?
A move into aged care management draws on almost the same management skill set, though it needs additional study in aged care, and pay there is $7,800 more. General manager roles in property or community services are a longer step for people who want broader commercial responsibility, and practice managers sometimes move in the other direction, bringing healthcare administration experience into a village.
What is the difference between a retirement village manager and an aged care manager?
A retirement village manager runs the village as a residential community: contracts, buildings, services and staffing, with residents living independently. An aged care manager runs a facility that provides clinical and personal care, which means nursing oversight, care funding and accreditation sit at the centre of that role.
Related roles
- Aged Care Manager
- Primary Health Network Manager
- Community Services Manager
- General Manager
- Practice Manager
- Hotel Service Manager
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Career advice
- Casual employment rights in AustraliaCasual employment law changed in August 2024. What casual employees get under the National Employment Standards, the pathway to a permanent role, and whether you can be let go without notice.
- How to change careers, and which moves are realisticData on 1,573 career moves across 350 Australian occupations shows 63.3% need no more than a short course, though skill overlap alone won't tell you which ones. Six worked examples, and how to check your own move.
- Skills to put on your resume (with skills finder)A resume skills section built for the job you're applying for. Search your occupation to see the specialist skills, tools and general skills it calls for, with worked examples and what to write if you have no work history yet.