Families get two days notice as SA childcare centres shutdown
Parents in six regions received 48-hour notice that their childcare provider is closing today, one woman saying the only choice now for her grandchild was family day care.
Six Edge Early Learning childcare centres in SA are closing today after administrators were unable to sell all sites of the embattled brand.
Administrators KordaMentha – who were appointed in August – confirmed that two Angle Vale sites, Flagstaff Hill, Mount Barker’s Adelaide Road centre, Port Augusta and Seacombe Heights centres would close today.
It comes after Edge’s Oaklands Park, Plympton and Royal Park centres closed permanently, and amid a takeover by Goodstart Early Learning, which has bought nine other Edge Centres in SA.
As they scramble to arrange new child care, parents have taken to social media expressing disappointment, one saying the closure of their local Flagstaff Hill centre was “heartbreaking”, another commenting it was “very unfair and sad for the staff, children and families”.
One concerned grandparent took to Facebook saying their granddaughter was attending Edge Port Augusta, and now has to go to a family day care “as there are very few child care centres where they are”.
Onkaparinga Councillor Marion Themeliotis said parents reached out to her privately after receiving a letter with 48 hours’ notice that their local Flagstaff Hill centre was closing.
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“There was a lot of concern, because there was no warning really, and it’s very hard to get into child care,” Themeliotis said.
“It’s such a process finding suitable childcare, and it’s very hard when parents can’t afford to take time off work so close to Christmas.
“I absolutely feel for the parents; the shock of it and not knowing has really taken families aback.”
Themeliotis has used her social media to share contacts for other local options, with Stepping Stone Aberfoyle Park and Little Kindy Dover Gardens among others offering immediate vacancies for families affected by the closure.
Deputy Liberal leader Josh Teague said this would leave families around the state “highly disrupted”.
Premier Peter Malinauskas said on Thursday he “only found out about this very recently, and obviously we’re seeking information from the federal government”.
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“Private childcare operators are 100 per cent the responsibility of the federal government, and we are seeking urgent information from the federal government about what they’re going to do to fix it.”
The Federal Education Minister was contacted for comment.
In Angle Vale, there are three Edge Centres, and the two that are closing are on Angle Vale Road and Saverio Boulevard, while Goodstart Early Learning has taken over the third on Merlot Road.
Goodstart Early Learning will take over Aldinga Beach, Brahma Lodge, Mount Barker, Port Pirie, Salisbury Downs and Virginia Edge centres.
KordaMentha said in a statement that Goodstart originally signed a Heads of Agreement to buy the closing centres, “but during their due diligence work” they decided not to go ahead with the sale.
“The Administrators liaised with the other purchasers of the Edge centre network, and other parties who had shown interest in these centres, but unfortunately have not been able to secure an alternative purchaser. Impacted families and staff have been advised of the closures,” Korda Mentha’s statement said.
In a statement, Goodstart blamed a “very tough period, with skyrocketing costs, steep increases in regulatory costs and oversupply issues” for not going ahead with purchasing all SA centres.
“As a not-for-profit, we must make careful decisions about where we invest. Through the process of due diligence, we looked very carefully at each individual centre to understand their history, current practice, operating conditions and costs like rent,” the statement said.
“We had to make decisions about which centres we are best placed to support on an ongoing basis. Through this detailed and rigorous process we identified that, unfortunately, we could not proceed with the purchase of a small number of the centres we investigated purchasing.”
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