The personal story behind RetireAustralia CEO Brett Robinson’s move into aged care

Former rugby great Brett Robinson wished he had been able to give his father a better experience at the end of his life. Now he’s leading change at one of the nation’s biggest retirement operators.

Rugby great Brett Robinson wished he had been able to give his elderly father a better experience at the end of his life.

But the former Wallaby and now chief executive of RetireAustralia said his father John, who suffered from Parkinson’s Disease, died in an environment that lacked warmth and homeliness. “Dad was a brilliant man, a lawyer and later a vineyard operator, but he developed Parkinson’s and eventually we had to arrange aged care,” Dr Robinson said.

“The problem was it was well meaning care, but very clinical and hospital based. He lost control and basically the will to live, dying six weeks later aged 81.”

Dr Robinson, whose career has included stints as a doctor, finance executive and sports administrator, said that when the opportunity to head Brisbane-based RetireAustralia, which operates 28 aged care communities around the country, came up he saw it as a mission to provide the standard of care that his father unfortunately missed out on.

Brett Robinson chats with some residents at RetireAustralia's Glengara village in NSW.

“The system did not look after dad the way he deserved or that was respectful,” said the father of four.

“If I can change that for other people I will be very proud.”

He said his father was originally a solicitor but went on to found Robinson Family Vineyard at Ballandean in the Granite Belt in Queensland in 1969 with wife Heather.

“We lived in Toowoomba and we would go down at weekends to work on the vines,” said Dr Robinson. “Dad was a real renaissance man.”

Dr Robinson said with people living longer - a factor he largely attributed to less smoking - the aim should be to keep people in their homes, or the equivalent, for as long as possible.

He blamed many of the problems surrounding the aged care model in Australia on the federal system, which meant that historically the Commonwealth funded nursing homes while the states regulated retirement villages that catered for people as young as 50.

“In my opinion, the system is busted because of the disconnect between the levels of government, which means we don’t know how to look after people as they age,” he said.

He does see things improving following the Aged Care Royal Commission.

The 80,000 new home care packages announced in the recent Federal Budget would allow retirement village operators to provide home care services to residents inside their communities, meaning they can stay in their village home and not be forced to move into a residential aged care facility.

John and Heather Robinson in 2005.

After attending Downlands College in Toowoomba, Dr Robinson studied medicine at the University of Queensland, specialising in orthopaedic surgery.

But before he could don the white coat, the rugby field beckoned and after initially playing as an amateur he embarked on a career as a professional sportsperson.

That included a stint at the international level as a Wallaby and being named inaugural captain of the ACT Brumbies in the super rugby competition.

Since retiring from the playing field, he served several terms as deputy chair of Rugby Australia.

“Sport and business have many similarities with the fundamentals of working in a team being the same,” Dr Robinson said.

Dr Robinson returned to medicine following the end of his rugby career, completing a PhD at Oxford University into improvements into an artificial knee.

After a career with insurance giant AIG in Sydney, Mr Robinson wanted to return to Queensland with his young family and to be nearer to his parents.

After a stint at Icon Cancer Group and following the death of his father, the job at RetireAustralia in 2019 was too good to refuse.

“My personal purpose when I was growing up was always to be concerned about people’s well-being,” he said. “I have a deep stake in that.”

Dr Robinson said RetireAustralia, whose major shareholder is New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund Infratil, planned to expand the number of aged care communities from 28 to more than 40 over the next few years.

The focus would always be on allowing people to stay in places that were socially connected and felt like homes.

“The built environments of homes are very important for this, including wide rooms for wheelchairs and accessible light switches,” he said.

Brett Robinson tackles during the Wallabies victory over France at Ballymore in 1997/