Redspear Holdings, which trades as Edu School Tours, in liquidation

Up to 300 students and parents from across Australia have been caught up in the dramatic collapse of a Victorian company, and the company director is refusing to speak with devastated families.

Schools across Australia have been caught up in the collapse of Edu School Tours.

The Space Camp tour company, which collapsed with millions of dollars paid by students at six schools across Australia has gone into liquidation.

Redspear Holdings, which trades as Edu School Tours, had Hall Chadwick appointed as administrators on March 12, ASIC has confirmed.

Creditors are expected to include families from Camberwell High School and Star of the Sea College in Victoria, Perth Modern, Christ Church Grammar School and Penrhos College in Western Australia and Forest High School in New South Wales.

Schools in Queensland and South Australia could also be affected.

Edu School Tours, which runs space camps, has gone into liquidation.

Up to 300 students and parents from six schools so far have all paid as much as $10,000 each for Edu School Tours for trips to the United States.

While the Victorian Government will cover the costs of Camberwell High families through its insurance scheme, the NSW Government on Wednesday night would not confirm it will do the same.

“The department is currently investigating what has occurred and is working with the impacted families,” a spokeswoman said.

The first meeting of creditors is due to take place on March 21, with those wanting to attend via video conference required to register by March 20.

It comes as the Victorian company’s director, Lucy Robertson, is understood to be lying low in Melbourne, refusing to contact hundreds of devastated parents and students who had paid her money for cancelled trips.

The company continued to accept money from parents days before schools learned the trips would not go ahead.

Edu School Tours director Lucy Robertson is understood to be lying low in Melbourne.

Private school parents, including those from Star of the Sea College in Brighton, are still unclear about what their legal and financial position will be. It’s expected either individual parents or schools will be forced to join the list of creditors.

Latitude Group Travel is working with a number of the schools, including Penrhos College, to rebook the tours, taking children to such places as the Kennedy Space Centre, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Centre, Universal Studios, Alcatraz and Washington DC.

While some flights paid for by Edu School Tours may still be used, there are additional costs for accommodation which was not paid for.

One parent from Forest High, a NSW state school in Frenchs Forest, said the school was trying to organise refunds through the company, the department or “via fundraising”.

“I am disappointed and annoyed with the NSW Department of Education for leaving us all hanging without any reassurance,” she said.

“In my view, the department should be guaranteeing to underwrite the cost of the refund if it is not covered by insurance or Edu Tours”.

She said the payments were made to the school, which selected the tour company and approved the trip.

The Camberwell High School trip – which was due to start in two weeks – was insured so there will be no impact on families.

A Victorian Department of Education spokesperson said they will “work with the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority and the administrators to determine what further action will be taken”.

The school’s assistant principal said a future Space Camp was a possibility, and in the meantime students could take part in space themed excursions and a virtual reality incursion.

Originally published as Redspear Holdings, which trades as Edu School Tours, in liquidation