Brindabella Christian College’s robot dog cost $340,000 according to auditors, and associated travel added $120,000 to the cost. Photo: Facebook.
Brindabella Christian Education Ltd directors spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a robot dog and overseas travel as it racked up a multi-million dollar tax debt and failed to pay millions in staff superannuation, all while the company was trading insolvent, a damning creditors’ report has revealed.
The new report from the Deloitte administrators BCEL called in in March 2025 has identified a raft of potential breaches of the Corporations Act, including some that could see the directors, led by board chair Greg Zwajgenberg, face criminal prosecution.
Reform BCC, which has been raising these issues for years, welcomed the report and hoped that the directors and company officers would be held to account.
“The big question is justice and accountability for these directors, one of whom is a prominent member of the Canberra legal profession,” it said.
“Will ASIC and education authorities care to hold Greg Zwajgenberg, Alyn Doig, Suzanne Power, John Clarke, Allan Davis and Flora Tan accountable and answerable for their alleged director failings?”
The administrators believe BCEL, the company that ran Brindabella Christian College, traded while insolvent from as far back as January 2021.
Their investigations found BCEL used dodgy accounting practices, failed to keep accurate records and repeatedly ignored regulators’ orders to get its house in order.
BCEL spent nearly half a million dollars in 2024 on the Boston Dynamics ‘Agile Mobile Robot’ and associated travel to the US and Europe in April and May, when the school was under significant financial distress due to a swelling tax debt and unpaid superannuation of $2.1 million.
The robot and training cost $336,556, while overseas flights for five people, including three board members, cost $69,810, including $8000 for Mr Zwajgenberg to continue on to Europe.
The bill for 12 nights’ accommodation was $39,053. The trip included a five-day “Board Retreat” and three days attending the Kentucky Derby Festival.
BCEL paid for all of Mr Zwajgenberg’s additional business class travel, while extra travel insurance and expenses of $123,899 were charged to Mr Zwajgenberg’s corporate credit card.
All up, the robot costs amounted to $460,455.
Mr Zwajgenberg also used his BCEL credit card to make approximately $30,000 in political donations to the Liberal Party between 2021 and 2024, in breach of ACNC regulations that ban registered charities from supporting political parties.
The administrators believe this and other credit card purchases, such as software licences (LinkedIn, Chat GPT, Adobe), iPhone accessories, significant IT equipment, hotel accommodation, and takeaway food, are unreasonable director-related expenses but require further investigation.
Former board chair Greg Zwajgenberg. Photo: LinkedIn.
They also found that directors may have used their positions improperly, pinpointing the donation of a solar tree by Mr Zwajgenberg through his company Eagle Vision Technologies Pty Ltd (EVT Energy), which was partially funded through a $27,500 ACT Government grant that was subsequently paid to EVT Energy.
The report states that board minutes indicate an attempt to transfer ownership of the solar tree to an entity controlled by Mr Zwajgenberg on the eve of BCEL entering voluntary administration. The administrators say this also raises questions about irregularities with the grant funding.
Another example of the improper use of positions cited was the awarding of contracts to entities related to the BCEL directors or employees, including Global Vision Technologies (Australasia) Pty Ltd, of which Mr Zwajgenberg is also a director and shareholder. It sold more than $100,000 worth of kitchen equipment to BCEL in 2014.
The report also identifies former BCEL CFO Brendon Major who was a director of MIT Services Group Pty Ltd (in Liquidation), which was BCEL’s IT contractor for over eight years.
BCEL failed to honour four payment plans with the Tax Office between 2022 and 2023, resulting in the debt blowing out from $3.4 million to $5.8 million. When the ATO’s patience finally ran out and it applied to wind up BCEL in February this year, the debt was $8 million.
From 2021, BCEL had been unable to refinance after its financier, NAB, refused to renew any facilities.
This precarious financial situation drove an increasing strategy of offering fee discounts for early payment, leading to the incorrect reporting of a profit for 2023-24 that included $4 million revenue relating to the next financial year’s tuition fees. Without this revenue, there would have been a significant loss.
“The company appears to have funded the ongoing losses of its operations by not paying the ATO and creditors,” the report says.
The administrators identified this early invoicing strategy at the end of last year and the robot spend as potential criminal offences.
They say the discount strategy seemed designed to reduce the directors’ personal liability to the tax debt and appeared to have prioritised their personal financial interests over those of BCEL and its creditors.
But it also put BCEL in an unsustainable position from which it could not recover, contributing to the appointment of administrators.
The report also raises concerns about changes to the BCEL constitution in January of this year, regarding the improper use of position. These amendments sought to indemnify company officers and grant them access to company assets to cover legal costs in the event of further action being taken against them.
The amendments also removed an exclusion clause that previously stated the indemnity would not apply if the liability arose from conduct by the officer involving a lack of good faith.
The administrators view this as likely to be in breach of directors’ duties, and that these changes would be considered an unreasonable director-related transaction which could be voided by a liquidator.
Their findings, including possible breaches of Section 184 of the Corporations Act, will be reported to the corporate regulator, ASIC.
Reform BCC stated that the community had been raising red flags for almost a decade, and numerous school executives had resigned or been forced out of their jobs by immovable and defiant directors.
“It is heartbreaking and incensing to see it’s taken so long for a thorough forensic investigation to be done,” it said.
Many individuals had borne a tremendous personal cost, financially, emotionally and professionally during this time.
Reform BCC said the report highlighted the failure of the charities regulator, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, to do its job.
The union representing staff in non-government schools members would be disappointed but not surprised to see the extent of mismanagement and poor governance outlined in the report.
Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT Branch Secretary Carol Matthews said the union hoped the transfer of ownership of the school to Christian Communities Ministries would allow members to focus on educating and caring for students without worrying about whether they were paid their wages and entitlements in full and on time.
“The union acknowledges the loyalty of members to the school during this difficult period,” Ms Matthews said.
“The union is sure that members will be very relieved that the school is now on a more stable footing under the ownership of CCM.”
The Second Creditors’ meeting will be held next Thursday. The administrators will recommend that BCEL be wound up. The sale of the school to CCM for $30 million means creditors will be paid in full.
ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry said it “is not appropriate for me to comment on matters related to BCEL while regulatory action is still underway”.
