Barwon Occupational Therapy in liquidation, NDIS clients left without reports

Up to 20 jobs are gone and more than 100 clients are looking elsewhere as a Geelong NDIS provider falls into liquidation due to “challenges in meeting operational costs”.

There was no action at Barwon Occupational Therapy this week after the company went into liquidation. Picture: Brad Fleet.

A large number of vulnerable NDIS patients have been “left in the lurch” following the sudden collapse of a Geelong-based NDIS provider.

Up to 20 staff attended a meeting at Barwon Occupational Therapy’s Grovedale base last Thursday where they were told they no longer had a job as the company was being placed in liquidation.

At the meeting – held almost a year to the day after the company emerged from administration – were director Anna Treloar-Tanner and a representative from Worrells, the insolvency firm appointed as liquidator.

BOT was registered in 2018 and had more than 100 clients, many of them NDIS participants whose plans have been charged despite their assessments not being completed.

One former employee said staff were owed two weeks’ wages, as well as travel and leave entitlements.

They also said three months of superannuation had not been paid.

“I know staff are concerned for the participants … there would be some who have been left with reports that were, say, 80 per cent completed and they need that done because it affects their next plan or funding that might be issued to them,” they said.

“They’re all left up in the air, having spent money on their plan and time with the therapist, but they’re going to get no result out of it.

“They’ve been left in the lurch.”

Anna Treloar-Tanner was owner-director of Barwon Occupational Therapy. Source: LinkedIn.

Ms Treloar-Tanner, whose husband Timothy Kichakov was listed as co-owner on Australian Securities and Investments Commission documents, could not be contacted.

The company’s website and Facebook page have been deactivated.

Worrells’ Scott Andersen is leading the liquidation and a spokesman said an early focus was identifying and securing any available assets.

“Further investigations into the financial affairs of the company will follow, including whether any recoveries may be available from other sources, such as voidable transactions,” the spokesman said.

“The decision to wind up the company follows a period of declining revenue leading to inadequate cashflow and challenges in meeting operational costs.

“Further updates will be provided to creditors in due course as the investigation progresses.”

Worrells confirmed an “unfortunate instance” where the personal phone number of one BOT therapist was given to a client, a situation the former employee said was a major breach of privacy.

“Both the employee and participant have been contacted to be advised of the situation, and we are confident that the matter will conclude there,” the Worrells spokesman said.

The mother of a nine-year-old boy client who engaged BOT’s services in April said she could not lodge important documents with the NDIS as her son’s assessment had not been completed despite his plan being charged $9500.

BOT’s collapse is the latest blow for the family after another provider failed to complete a report 18 months ago.

The boy’s plan was charged $20,000 on that occasion, the mum said.

“We were pretty hesitant to engage with another service as it takes a lot out of families … you’re talking a lot about all the challenges, which is emotionally draining,” she said.

“My son had come to know her (the therapist) and it can be challenging for him to meet new people, especially therapists, and he finally became comfortable with her in recent weeks.

“Now we have to start again.”

Originally published as Barwon Occupational Therapy in liquidation, NDIS clients left without reports