The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard has today welcomed the appointment of receiver, PPB Corporate Recovery (PPB) by the New South Wales Supreme Court to 249 child care centres previously under the control of ABC Learning Centre’s receiver, McGrath Nicol.
To avoid the closure of 241 centres by 31 December this year, the Australian Government committed up to $34 million and sought the appointment of Stephen Parbery and Daniel Bryant of PPB following the completion of an operational review of ABC Learning centres last week.
The Australian Government welcomes this appointment which will ensure continuity of care for children at ABC Learning Centres while longer term arrangements can be resolved.
McGrath Nicol will transfer 228 child care centres to the control of a fully owned subsidiary to be known as ABC2 Group effective from January 1 2009. 21 centres owned and leased by the Department of Defence will also be transferred.
The 249 childcare centres in ABC2 Group will continue to operate with financial assistance from the Australian Government into the New Year and, if necessary, until 31 March 2009.
Staff at these centres will continue to be employed under their normal terms and conditions, as employees of ABC Learning.
The Australian Government will also seek to transfer an additional 13 ABC Learning branded child care centres owned by 123 Operations which are subject to a separate external administration process.
PPB will look at a range of options for ABC2 Group childcare centres, including their sale to new owners or, in some cases, the transfer of children to suitable alternative arrangements.
As a first step, Mr Parbery is writing to parents, centre directors, staff and organisations that have expressed an interest in running ABC Learning Centres to confirm his appointment and outline the process that will apply from 1 January. The process going forward will involve consultations with major stakeholders including landlords and staff.
The receiver will also review all submissions from parties who have expressed an interest to date in ABC Learning’s childcare centres. In the New Year, PPB will invite a second round of expressions of interest.
The Government hopes to have established long term care options for all children in these centres by the end of March 2009.