SA families on edge as childcare provider appoints administrators
Thousands of South Australian families are on tenterhooks as a leading childcare provider’s future is up in the air.
Edge Early Learning has appointed administrators on Tuesday but have told parents it is “business as usual” at their centres across the country.
Edge Early Learning lists 68 centres on its website, including 24 in South Australia, 42 in Queensland and two in the ACT.
Currently, only 21 of the South Australian centres are open, with Elizabeth Park, Gawler East and Munno Para West closed after breaches were found by the state’s Education Standards Board.
It expanded into South Australia in 2022, after opening its first childcare centres in Queensland in 2017.
In a statement to their website on Wednesday, Edge Early Learning announced it had appointed KordaMentha administrators Craig Shepard, David Johnstone and Stacey Clisby.
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The company said the administration was expected to take several weeks and there would be no change to childcare fees, payment terms or payment dates for parents.
Excursions, events and special activities would continue “where possible” but some could be reviewed or “adjusted” during the administration period.
“We understand that this may be a confusing and stressful development for families who rely upon Edge Early Learning to provide care for their children,” the statement said.
“We are continuing to operate all centres on a business-as-usual basis. There will be no change to your care arrangements, centre opening hours or staffing.
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“Families should continue to attend their centre as normal. We are working with management and will be supporting centre staff to minimise any disruption.”
It comes after Edge was forced to close its South Australian centres for a day in April for mandatory training after two of its centres were forced to shut temporarily due to concerns over staffing levels and food allergy contamination.
The centres in Adelaide’s north, operated by Edge Early Learning, led to Munno Para West, that has about 50 children enrolled, still being closed while Gawler East ,that has about 80 children enrolled is still closed until October, according to the company’s website.
Multiple breaches were detected by the Education Standards Board.
Liberal Shadow Education Minister Heidi Girolamo said “unfortunately, we could see this coming from a mile off and have raised concerns previously”.
“First and foremost our thoughts are with the families and staff facing uncertainty at this time,” Girolamo said.
“We’d like to see the Minister provide more support; for instance, one of the measures we’ve been calling for is to have expert professionals placed within centres like Edge to observe and provide on-the-spot feedback about improvements that could ensure centres remain open.”
Education Minister Lucy Hood said Edge was a private company, and it was a “private business decision” to enter voluntary administration.
“My understanding is that it’s around 2200 families that are impacted, obviously, children might go for one, two, or multiple days per week but I understand it was private business decision,” she said.
“Importantly, my thoughts are with the families affected, and it’s reassuring to know that it is business as usual. But if any families have any questions, I’d encourage them to contact the director of their centre.
“We need to know that we have confidence in our childcare system, that quality is absolutely paramount, and that’s why, as a government, we’ve invested heavily in the Education Standards Board. More than 30 million dollars has been invested into the board to make sure that we can undertake more compliance checks, more assessments, and ratings of the system to guarantee that quality.”
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