{"id":357855,"date":"2025-12-19T07:55:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T07:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/357855\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T07:55:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T07:55:10","slug":"bedford-creditors-vote-to-hand-over-reins-to-the-disability-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/357855\/","title":{"rendered":"Bedford creditors vote to hand over reins to The Disability Trust"},"content":{"rendered":"

Creditors have voted to support the sale of Bedford to NDIS provider The Disability Trust, which would guarantee the jobs of 1,100 workers.<\/p>\n

Bedford’s financial troubles became public in July<\/a>, with the state and federal governments stepping in with a financial lifeline to keep the business operating.<\/p>\n

Last month, the disability employment provider formally entered administration, with 540 unsecured creditors and outstanding debts of about $18 million.<\/p>\n

At the time, The Disability Trust was named the preferred buyer<\/a>. Creditors have now voted on a deed of company arrangement (DOCA) proposal, which will enable that transfer.<\/p>\n

Administrator Rob Smith from McGrathNicol said the formal transaction was expected to be completed in January or February.<\/p>\n

“The vote of creditors to support the \u2026 DOCA proposal is a significant milestone in the ongoing restructure of Bedford,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Rob Smith says the transaction is expected to be completed early next year. (Supplied: McGrathNicol)<\/p>\n

The Disability Trust will take over Bedford’s core disability services and employment business, Supported Independent Living, and some other operations.<\/p>\n

Deputy CEO Mathew McIntyre said 800 supported workers and 300 other employees would retain their jobs.<\/p>\n

“This has been a challenging period for everyone connected to Bedford,” Mr McInytre said.<\/p>\n

“Our priority is to provide stability and support Bedford to move forward in a sustainable way.”\"A<\/p>\n

McGrathNicol found failed investment in social enterprises led to heavy losses for Bedford. (ABC News: Will Hunter)<\/p>\n

Bedford insolvent ‘no later than September 2024’<\/p>\n

The reasons for Bedford’s downfall have been detailed in an administrator’s report.<\/p>\n

It can be revealed preliminary investigations indicate the disability employment provider became insolvent no later than September last year, and likely earlier.<\/p>\n

McGrathNicol found failed investment in social enterprises led to heavy losses and depleting working capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The administrators found books and record keeping were inadequate, and reduced NDIS plan revenue led to further financial constraints.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Bedford entered administration earlier this year. (ABC News: Olivia Mason)<\/p>\n

Union worries more redundancies to come<\/p>\n

The administrators have sold or are in the process of selling other businesses linked to Bedford.<\/p>\n

Dave Kirner from the CFMEU’s manufacturing division said that meant lingering uncertainty for some workers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“There could still be more redundancies to come, most definitely,” he said.\"Two<\/p>\n

Dave Kirner with Carolyn Arnold, who worked in the Bedford fundraising division. (ABC News: Carl Saville)<\/p>\n

But he said 100 workers terminated when the disability service provider entered administration looked like they would now receive their entitlements early next year.<\/p>\n

“We’re happy with the outcome today. We just need to follow it through and make sure when the money’s in the bank, then the job’s done,” he said.<\/p>\n

The state government is contributing $21 million to support the transition to The Disability Trust.<\/p>\n

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said he welcomed the development in the sale.<\/p>\n

“The intervention of the South Australian and federal governments to support this sale has helped protect the livelihoods of more than 1,200 South Australians with disabilities,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr McIntyre said The Disability Trust was keen to get the transaction done.<\/p>\n

“As we look towards 2026, our focus is on continuing Bedford’s legacy of meaningful employment and services across South Australia.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Creditors have voted to support the sale of Bedford to NDIS provider The Disability Trust, which would guarantee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,19302,99,7110,5793,195784,195783],"class_list":{"0":"post-357855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-bedford","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-disability","13":"tag-ndis","14":"tag-supported-independent-living","15":"tag-the-disability-trust"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}