For over 30 years, Warrawee Community — Glen Eira’s 90-bed residential aged care facility in Bentleigh East — has been a place of care and connection for local residents.  

Recent Australian Government reforms have strengthened registration requirements and tightened governance, compliance and safety standards for all residential aged care providers. These changes are designed to improve the quality of care — which is something we wholeheartedly support — but they also bring added complexity, regulation and cost, particularly for smaller, standalone providers like Council to continue operating sustainably. 

These reforms tend to favour larger providers who operate a number of facilities and have the scale to meet strengthened standards more efficiently.  

Keeping up with these requirements requires ongoing investment which impacts funding available for other important community services. We are the only council in Victoria — and one of very few in Australia — that operates a standalone residential aged care facility. The cost of delivering this service has risen sharply, and Warrawee is forecast to operate at a $5.5 million loss in 2025–26. This impacts Council’s ability to continue delivering more than 120 services across our municipality.  

A decision now needs to be made about the future of Warrawee Community. This is the beginning of an important conversation — one we’re committed to approaching with care, transparency and respect for everyone involved, to inform our future decision. 

The options we’re considering  

We are seeking community feedback on two possible options:  

• continuing to operate Warrawee as a Council-run facility requiring ongoing investment.  

• transferring ownership to a registered aged care provider that can continue delivering high-quality, local care at the site.  

This is a conversation about Warrawee Community continuing as business as usual or transferring ownership to a new provider — we are not considering closing the site.  

In both options, Warrawee remains a residential aged care home — that does not change.  

Cr Dr Zmood said Council’s priority is the wellbeing and stability of residents.  

“Warrawee Community is not closing.  

“Care continues as usual. We want to make sure residents keep receiving the high-quality care they know and trust, and that staff feel supported through this process.”  

She also emphasised that the community’s voice will directly shape the outcome.  

“No decision has been made,” she said.  

“This engagement process is about listening to you, gathering information, and understanding our community’s priorities before any decision is made.” 

Responsible long-term planning  

This decision is about planning carefully for the future and understanding what will best support our entire community now and for years to come.  

We need to review how we can best support older residents to ensure our services to our residents remain sustainable, compliant with sector reforms, equitable and aligned with community expectations.  

We know from previous conversations that residents want Council to focus on services that benefit the whole community and make fair, transparent decisions. Reviewing assets and services like Warrawee is part of responsible long-term planning. 

Read the report summary  

We’re committed to transparency, so we’ve created a summary of the Council report which includes all the information we can release. This is available on our Have Your Say page, and includes the full report except for sensitive commercial and staff information.  

How to get involved  

Your feedback will play a key role in the decision Council makes later this year.  

Hearing from all voices in our community is essential in helping us understand what matters most.  

Visit Have Your Say to learn more and complete the survey by Wednesday 25 March. 

www.haveyoursaygleneira.com.au/aged-care