Brindabella Christian College must overhaul its board and its accounting and finance practices within tight deadlines after it came to an agreement with the federal Education Minister.
Brindabella Christian Education Limited, the charity which operates the school, agreed to certain conditions following a lengthy appeal process through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
A delegate for the minister decided in 2021 that the charity was not fit and proper to be an approved authority to operate a school, citing concerns over conflicts of interest and financial viability.
The school appealed this decision which culminated in a public hearing in the tribunal last month. On the fourth day of the hearing, lawyers for the school and the minister reached an agreement which imposed certain conditions on the school.
The conditions viewed by The Canberra Times show the board needed to be expanded from three members to include at least five members by April 1.
The board needed to include at least two women, at least one parent of a current student and include members with experience and expertise in school education by April 1.
The charity must agree to a repayment plan for its multimillion-dollar debt to the Australian Taxation Office by May 1 and keep the minister informed if they fail to make a payment as per the plan.
The school's business manager has to conduct market testing for all major costs that have not been through a tender process in the past year, including cleaning costs, capital expenditure and advertising.
The board must complete and sign the school's overdue 2021 financial statements by May 1 and the 2022 financial statements must be completed by the due date on June 30.
Brindabella Christian Education Limited must provide written reports to the federal Education Minister signed off by an independent auditor on its progress by certain dates over the next two years.
The school board was asked whether the school had complied with all of the conditions that were due by April 1, including expanding the board membership.
Board chair Greg Zwajgenberg did not directly answer the questions and said he was waiting for a further tribunal decision regarding material in the hearing.
"This will be a critical step in restoring credibility into processes within government agencies as a whole and directly as it relates to the Department of Education and our college, focusing on probity and the need for actual transparency by specifically highlighting the treatment our college executive, our staff and our parent community has had to endure; and speaking directly to what we as a board have publicly endured during this intentionally ill-conceived and destructive series of events," he said.
Board members have not been updated on the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission website.
An Education Department spokesperson did not directly respond to questions regarding what would happen if the school did not comply with the conditions.
"On 12 April 2023, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) issued an order that requires Brindabella Christian Education Limited (BCEL) to meet a number of conditions in relation to governance, financial management, and financial reporting," the spokesperson said.
"The department is working with BCEL to ensure they are meeting their obligations as outlined in AAT orders."
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