Roaring Respite and Ohana Support Coordination go bust

Two more Geelong disability organisations have gone bust, with debts in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and staff losing their jobs.

Jaimes McKenzie. Alison Wynd.

Two Geelong disability organisations have gone bust with debts in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and staff left without jobs.

Ohana Support Coordination was placed into liquidation on April 23, while an administrator was appointed for fellow disability support organisation Roaring Respite on the same day.

James Aaron McKenzie is listed as director of both organisations, according to Australian Securities & Investments Commission documents.

Roaring Respite traded from three premises across Geelong, Norlane and Lovely Banks.

The company employed 30 staff, which included five full-time and six part-time staff, as well as 19 casual workers.

Richard Lawrence, from Mackay and Goodwin, was appointed administrator by Mr McKenzie in April.

Mr Lawrence subsequently reported liabilities of $348,935 and dissolved the company on May 9.

According to Mr Lawrence’s report, its unprofitable position was largely attributed to “exorbitant expenditure”.

Mr Lawrence held discussions with Mr McKenzie and an accountant of the company concerning their financial position.

“The trading losses appear to be primarily attributable to exorbitant operating expenses, specifically wages expense,” Mr Lawrence said.

“The company has recorded trading losses for all periods following financial year end 30 June 2022.

“The company’s historical financial difficulties were largely attributable to poor strategic management of the business which resulted in the accumulation of debt, primarily taxation debt.”

After reviewing the company’s financial records, Mr Lawrence concluded Roaring Respite had historical issues with cash flow, with a reliance on loans to meet the liquidity needs of the business.

“The quantum of the (Australian Taxation Office) debt indicates that the company may have been poorly managed with respect to adequately budgeting to meet all debts as and when they fall due, including taxation debts,” Mr Lawrence said.

Mr Lawrence’s report also revealed that Ohana had loans totalling $67,368 and it was highly unlikely unsecured creditors would ever see a cent.

It is unclear what Ohana’s total liabilities were.

A parent whose child was a client of Roaring Respite said he submitted a complaint to the National Disability Insurance Agency regarding interaction between staff and his child.

The parent said he was concerned to learn Roaring Respite had gone bust, as he had also previously used AmAble, another disability support organisation that owed $500,000 to creditors in October last year.

“It’s definitely a concern, because it makes you wonder whether or not you’re going to be able to get services for your children as well,” he said.

“It also means that our existing services that we are using might become a little bit more constrained because they have an influx of other participants coming across to them.”

Mr McKenzie has been contacted for comment.

Originally published as Roaring Respite and Ohana Support Coordination go bust