The aged care industry along with the public health movement has undergone profound change, yet aged care is a growing concern with an ageing population. Within the Australian context, there remains the need for further research and education especially with regard to the retirement village setting that offers a variety of services including a continuum of care from independent living through to aged care facility living (hostel and nursing home). Through an exploration of the health promoting settings approach that has been applied to schools, hospitals, workplaces and so on, it can be demonstrated that a retirement village can also move beyond institutional care to one that is a health promoting retirement village.