Inspire Education collapse leaves 13,000 students stranded across Australia

A national online training provider has gone bust with debts of $1.6m, leaving 13,000 students – including South Australians – who were just weeks away from finishing courses.

South Australians are among thousands of students caught up in the sudden collapse of an online training school.

Brisbane-based company Inspire Education has gone into liquidation with debts totalling more than $1.6m.

This included $1.2m owed to an online advertising and marketing company and another $400,000 owed to a company in the Philippines.

Its closure has left 13,000 students nationally with incomplete courses, including some in South Australia.

They include one woman who was three weeks away from finishing a childcare diploma which she was relying on to obtain a licence for a facility she wanted to buy.

Lee Crosthwaite, from chartered accountants Worrells, wrote to students late last week saying he had been appointed liquidator of Inspire Education Pty Ltd.

“Unfortunately this means your course through Inspire Education has been halted,” he said.

Mr Crosthwaite said Worrells was exploring if another registered training organisation was interested “in taking over the provision of services”.

Thousands of online students have been left with unfinished courses by the collapse of Brisbane training company Inspire Education. Picture: File

It also was liaising with the Australian Skills Quality Authority, which regulates vocational education and training, about the collapse of Inspire.

“We appreciate this is a concerning time for you,” he said.

“However, we ask that you please allow us time to explore available options to assist regarding the company’s training courses and all students.”

Reports have begun to emerge of Inspire students who were only weeks away from completing their qualifications.

The company offered online training in various fields including early childhood education, aged care and disability services.

Mr Crosthwaite said Worrells had received a “substantial number of emails from students already”.

The Inspire Education website was closed down by late Monday, instead linking to Worrells.

Its office had a voice message saying that “due to unforeseen circumstances, our website, phones, and email are unavailable at this time”.

“We will endeavour to provide an update as soon as possible,” it said.

“We apologise for any inconvenience.”

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