Brindabella Christian College’s former directors’ fate lies with ASIC. Photo: Region.
Liquidators have lodged a confidential report with the corporate regulator regarding the actions of the former operators of Brindabella Christian College.
Deloitte’s liquidators report on the winding up of Brindabella Christian College Education Ltd says their statutory report to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) was lodged on 6 October 2025.
However, this report is confidential and not available to the public, who may never know what the liquidators’ recommendations are or if the school’s former directors will ever be held accountable for their potentially criminal actions.
“We will not necessarily be informed of what, if any, compliance or enforcement action ASIC is considering as a consequence of the report,” Deloitte’s Sam Marsden said.
“In some instances, ASIC will request a supplementary report to be lodged, or, if they have identified serious director duties breaches, liquidators may elect to submit a supplementary report without waiting for ASIC direction, if they think it is in the public interest.”
It is unknown whether any referral has been made to the Australian Federal Police or other government agencies.
In the Second Creditors report released in July, administrators Mr Marsden and Sal Algeri believed that BCEL was trading while insolvent from as far back as January 2021 before finally calling in administrators in March when it could no longer pay staff.
During that time, the school received about $10 million a year in Commonwealth funding.
The report found that the directors, headed by board chair Greg Zwajgenberg, breached a range of directors’ duties under sections 180 to 184 of the Corporations Act and may warrant further investigation by ASIC with a view to potential criminal prosecution.
They suggest BCEL failed to maintain adequate books and records.
The report identified potential criminal offences in the forward invoicing, which offered an 11 per cent discount for early payments, without proper recognition of this in the company’s accounts. Additionally, the purchase of Boston Dynamics’ ‘Agile Mobile Robot’ and associated travel expenses were also identified as potential criminal offences.
The administrators said the robot costs were also incurred when the company was clearly insolvent.
“The robot was not a core operational requirement and had no clear link to the college’s curriculum or educational outcomes,” the report said.
“The total expenditure of over $460,000 – including business class flights, extended overseas travel and luxury accommodation – was substantial and appears disproportionate given the company’s financial constraints.”
The report also found that between 2021 and 2024, approximately $30,000 in political donations to the Liberal Party were charged to the company’s corporate credit card, held by Mr Zwajgenberg, in breach of ACNC regulations that prohibit registered charities from supporting political parties.
BCEL went into administration in March 2025 owing about $23.8 million to creditors, comprising $1.4 million to employees, $9.5 million to secured creditors, including NAB ($9.3 million), $4.1 million to parents (for tuition fees paid upfront), $6.1 million to the ATO and $2.7 million to suppliers.
In May, private school operator Christian Community Ministries paid $30 million for the College.
The liquidators stated that all eligible creditors would receive a full payout of their claims, and they expected to commence the formal final dividend process for the company’s unsecured creditors in early 2026, once adjudication of the remaining claims was finalised.
A priority dividend was paid in October 2025 to employees who were terminated or resigned before or during the Administration period, or for continuing employees who had underpayment claims against BCEL.
It also included payment to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in respect of superannuation contributions owing to all employees for the period prior to the appointment of Administrators.
Employees who transferred to CCM on 16 May 2025 were excluded from this dividend, as their entitlements transferred to the new owner in full.
A number of music contractors made claims for unpaid superannuation, and assessment of these will go back to 5 March 2020.
The resulting amount will likely be remitted to the ATO at the same time as the unsecured creditor dividend, after which the ATO will distribute the amounts to the music contractors’ super accounts.
