29 workers made redundant from disability service provider Bedford owed thousands of dollars in entitlements

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The broader consequences of Bedford's collapse are becoming clearer, with 540 unsecured creditors and about $18 million in outstanding debt. 29 workers made redundant earlier this month also face an anxious time as they're yet to receive thousands of dollars in entitlements.

Transcript

00:00Annette Rowie worked in Bedford's Lotteries Division for 11 years, a much-loved job that's

00:08ended with redundancy.

00:10The stroke survivor says she's owed $28,000 in entitlements, money she can't currently

00:16access.

00:17It's our house payments, the grandchildren, as far as living, as far as to go on the way

00:28for Christmas.

00:29Earlier this month, more than 1,000 supported Bedford workers celebrated their jobs being

00:36saved.

00:38Hours later, 29 fundraising and other corporate staff were terminated.

00:43Carolyn Arnold says she's owed up to $10,000 in redundancy and leave entitlements.

00:49All the work that we did over the years raising funds for people with disability, we were forgotten.

00:57We were pushed aside and just not treated well.

01:04The CIS provider, the Disability Trust, has been named as the preferred buyer of Bedford.

01:09The state government is contributing $21 million to support the transition.

01:14The union says some of that money should be used to pay terminated employees.

01:19If the administrator and the government says, look, pay that money, then people are in a

01:24position to transition through the Christmas period.

01:26Look, I want to express my empathy with them, my sympathy, but I think the key process here

01:31is the administrators are working through these difficult situations.

01:36Administrator McGraw-Nickel says the ability to pay workers' entitlements depends on how

01:40much money is recovered, including from asset sales.

01:44But if Bedford is liquidated, there is a federal government safety net.

01:50Whatever happens, it could be some time before Annette Rowey sees any money.

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