Federal Education Department reveals move to close Brindabella

The board of Brindabella Christian College has known for at least a month that the federal Education Department was moving to effectively shut the school down.

Department official Meg Brighton revealed in Senate Estimates today (27 February) that in January the school had been issued with notice of the department’s intention to commence a revocation of the approved authority status of its proprietor, Brindabella Christian Education Ltd.

“What that means is the delegate was of a mind that they had a preliminary view that the school has not complied with their requirements under the Act, and as a result, they were proposing to make a decision to revoke the school’s approved authority status,” she said under questioning from ACT Senator David Pocock.

Without an approved authority, government funding would cease and the school would not be able to operate.

The board has until 7 March to respond but has asked for an extension, which was being considered.

It also has until 6 March to respond to ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry’s show cause notice, but Ms Berry had reassured parents and staff that this did not mean cancelling the school’s registration.

Questions are also being asked about how the school is unable to pay its teachers when it received a $927,000 payment from the Commonwealth on 13 February, only 10 days before executive principal Suzanne Power advised staff.

Senator Pocock asked Ms Brighton if she had any concerns about how these funds had been spent, “given the multi-million dollar tax debt that the ATO alleges has been accrued and the apparent admission from the board chair [Greg Zwajgenberg] in correspondence to staff and parents that they are approximately $1 million short for the month of February.”

“Senator, there are a number of things that would concern us about that,” she said.

“That’s why we have written to the board to remind them that Commonwealth recurrent funding can’t be used for litigation.”

Mr Zwajgenberg has admitted to racking up millions in legal fees in recent years, and there is a case pending in the ACT Supreme Court related to an unapproved car park.

Ms Brighton also clarified the school’s funding arrangements, saying that it had been on monthly payments since January 2022 after being shifted to quarterly payments in January 2020. Usually, schools are paid three times a year – 50 per cent of their funding in January, 25 per cent of their funding in July and the balance in October.

She was also asked if the department could provide emergency funding to support a school in distress but indicated this was not being considered.

“This school receives, from the Australian Government, $10 million a year,” Ms Brighton said. “Schools of similar size have had no issues meeting their obligations.”

Senator Pocock asked if there was an interim board or a liquidator, could the department step in to pay wages and keep the school running.

“Senator, we would look at what we had available to us,” Ms Brighton said.

“I think the guiding principle for us is continuity of education for those students, so we would look at whatever flexibility and options we have available to us, as I’m sure the ACT Government would as well, and if such a circumstance were to arise, that’s exactly what we’d work through,” she said.

Ms Brighton said the department had twice asked the board to reach out to the school community to reassure them and offer the necessary supports, first when the ATO winding up application was made last week and then on Monday when wages could not be paid.

The department also reiterated its concerns about the use of Australian Government funding.

The Independent Education Union is taking the school to the Fair Work Commission over the unpaid wages.

NSW/ACT Branch Secretary Carol Matthews told the ABC staff had been issued normal pay slips whether they had been paid or not.

“We’re concerned that the situation will become very difficult to unravel in terms of working out what staff have been paid and haven’t been paid,” she said.

The school reform group said the community had been kept in the dark about the proposed revocation of BCEL as the Approved Authority for BCC, and the board had not offered any substantial support to staff and families as required or attended any of the recent staff meetings personally.

“In fact, the opposite has occurred, with the cancellation of multiple school community events this week having the effect of isolating parents and staff from one another,” a spokesperson said.

ReformBCC also would like to know what happened to the government funding paid on 13 February.

“With staff not being paid, we again ask the question, where has the money been spent?” the spokespersons said

ReformBCC said the school needed to be kept running with an immediate intervention by regulators to ensure staff do not go another week without pay.

“The time for writing letters and trusting that the BCEL board will do the right thing is well and truly over,” the spokesperson said, urging the department to communicate directly to parents and staff.

The ACT Greens said the ACT Government should seriously look into the feasibility of bringing the school into public administration in the short term, if that’s what it takes to provide certainty for the BCC community.

Mr Zwajgenberg would not comment.