I want to acknowledge the deep concern and anxiety being felt across the Brindabella School Community.
It is a difficult and uncertain time and an issue that has dragged on for too long.
These concerns have clearly been exacerbated this week by the action the ATO has taken to instigate insolvency proceedings against Brindabella Christian College’s owners.
The scale of the debt owed to the ATO is extraordinary and raises serious questions both about the school’s governance and our regulatory environment.
My thoughts are with the staff, students and parents of what is otherwise a very good school.
Staff have missed out repeatedly on superannuation payments and the accrual of the associated benefits.
Parents have been asked to pay increasingly steep school fees, often making sacrifices to do so.
Students have faced uncertainty and had to deal with collapsed classes.
I have been continuously communicating the concerns the staff and parent community have raised with me with the federal and ACT governments.
I wrote most recently to Federal Education Minister Jason Clare and ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry on 15 January this year.
I am yet to receive any response from Minister Berry and note the difficulties in contacting her office this week with emails bouncing back and calls going continually unanswered.
I received a response from Minister Clare yesterday, and some high level information from Minster Jones’ office and I thank them for this.
It is extremely disappointing that the school community has yet to receive any formal communication from anyone in government and I urge government to do better.