The Hon Julia Gillard MP
26 November, 2008
Media release
Majority of ABC Learning child care centres to remain open in 2009
The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard has welcomed the announcement today by the receiver of ABC Learning that the majority of ABC child care centres will continue to operate in 2009.
In a statement to the media and in a letter to parents and employees, the receiver has identified 656 centres that will continue to be open and trade as normal in 2009.
This represents almost two thirds of all ABC Centres, which provide care for 80,000 Australian children, or more than 70 per cent of children in ABC Learning centres.
The receiver has indicated that he sees a positive future for ABC Learning and this will come as a relief to thousands of parents and ABC Learning staff.
The Government is pleased that the receiver has been able to provide certainty for so many parents and employees less than a month after ABC Learning went into receivership.
The Government will continue to work closely with the receiver on the process for the remaining ABC Learning centres.
The receiver, McGrath Nicol, expects a proportion of these centres will stay open but needs more time to examine the centres in more detail so that the correct decision is made on their future.
The receiver has indicated that he expects to make a further announcement in respect of these centres in a week’s time.
The Australian Government is playing a strong and decisive role in supporting this process.
The Rudd Government has committed up to $22 million to ensure that all ABC Learning centres continue to operate at least until 31 December.
The Government’s Child Care Industry Taskforce and its insolvency adviser, PPB, will continue to work closely with the receiver as they look at the circumstances and determine future arrangements for each and every ABC Learning centre still under review.
A full list of ABC Learning centres, and their status, will be available later today on ABC Learning’s website childcare.com.au. Once posted, the list will also be accessible from the Australian Government’s mychild.gov.au website.
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