Ministers meet to tackle 'cunningly designed rip-offs'

"There clearly needs to be a meaningful uplift in the conduct of retirement village operators," he told the ABC.

"This issue will be on the agenda for the upcoming consumer ministers meeting, and I have made it clear to state and territory ministers poor behaviour needs to be stamped out."

It follows an ABC investigation into the multi-billion-dollar retirement village sector in September this year which revealed "corporatised elder abuse" with stories of excessive fees, oppressive contracts and misleading marketing promises.

Retired actuary, academic and retirement village expert Tim Kyng, who has assessed hundreds of retirement village contracts, described them as "cunningly designed rip-offs".

The knock-on effect of the high exit fees was a trail of older Australians unable to fund a place in aged care, forcing them onto a waiting list for a taxpayer-subsidised spot.

For instance, 89-year-old Joan Green bought a unit in a retirement village 11 years ago for $384,000 and won't have enough money to pay for an aged care facility after a 60 per cent exit fee and other fees will leave her with $81,000.