It is important to determine whether your client has a life interest which would confer on them a proprietary interest in the property, or merely a personal right to reside on the land for life: see Calderone v Perpetual Trustees Victoria Ltd [2008] VSC 373 at para 21.

A personal right to reside on land is enforceable in contract. A proprietary interest, on the other hand, may be enforceable against third parties, which may allow your client to remain in possession of the property.

If your client is a life tenant in possession of the land, they can claim a paramount interest: s. 42(2)(e) of the Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic). There has been a series of decisions which have held that s. 42(2)(e) is wide enough to encompass the interest of a life tenant in possession of land. For discussion of these see, for example, Calderone v Perpetual Trustees Victoria Ltd [2008] VSC 373 at para 18.