And I wouldn,t be at all surprised if the jems who "Own"them haven,t got quite a bundle statched away , Cant see them living in poverty wouldn,t be at all surprised if like many before him, the pennies were doled out to the family for safe keeping

A difficult one...but basically I don't see a govt bailout as the solution....particularly if it is just a short term fix.

Some good comments here,

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"The national secretary of community-based child care services, Barbara Romeril, says bailing out the ailing company is not an effective long-term solution.



"The community sector can absolutely step in and provide child care in those communities, there's no need to bail out the companies," she said.



Ms Romeril says the only thing standing in the way of community-run centres stepping in is access to facilities.



Mr Romeril says if a corporate commercial operator failed, then the Government should help community organisations to take over the facilities so that they could run non-profit operations.



The president of Childcare Associations Australia (CAA), Amanda Morphett, who represents independent private Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) providers, has urged caution, saying it is too early to comment on the specific circumstances surrounding ABC Learning."

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/23/2399680.htm

ABC - should not be rescued, Running a private childcare centre should rest solely on the operators. Having said that, I know that the regulations are so tough, that it should put any operator from even trying to open a private centre. My son, and his wife ran a centre in a fairly remote area, Cared for at least 35 children/babies every week - sometimes from 6am to 6pm, or later. They were subjected to the same rules as the city based centres. Not only that, in the childcare centre they ran, from the time of approval, to the time of operating, the rules changed. It was no longer good enough that they had a specifically designated "bath" for a small child, they then had to instal a "shower" area. Wasn't good enough any more. The rules for compliance changed every time the inspectors came around. They re-designed, every time, at a cost of thousands of dollars. After 8 years, of not earning any money, but working their behinds off, they closed the centre, sold the property, and are now gainfully employed. The wife, who now brings home enough money to pay the mortgage, is a paid worker in the childcare industry, ( and it is an industry), My son now earns far more in his job, having taken advantage of his Bachelor of Business degree.

It is certainly a lesson to all businesses - don't try to get too big, too fast. Greed can be your downfall, and company directors who live fast lifestyles often find they have nothing left in the coffers to fall back on when the creditors start to knock on the door.