One of Australia’s largest disability employers has announced its “devastating” decision to put it’s multi-million dollar company into voluntary administration.

Bedford Group made the announcement on Thursday, confirming it may affect up to 1400 staff across South Australia.

WATCH ABOVE: Disability non-profit falls into voluntary administration.

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The group is the state’s second-biggest disability employer.

Bedford is a not-for-profit that has been operating in SA for more than 80 years, employing people with a disability to work across various industries, including manufacturing, landscaping, hospitality and cleaning.

Since the NDIS was established, the disability non-profits had struggled, CEO Myron Mann and Board Chair Janet Miller said in a statement obtained by www.20304050.best.

They also pointed to the federal government as contributing to the state of the company.

“Despite this forward-thinking and a strong balance sheet of $47m in net assets, we have faced more recent challenges with cashflow,” Mann and Miller said.

“This has restricted our ability to operate and to access more working capital to realise the sustainable future we are working so hard towards.

“Bedford alongside almost 70 per cent of registered NDIS providers have faced financial challenges since the introduction of the NDIS. We recognised the need to be proactive in the face of these challenges in 2022 and subsequently developed our Future Bedford strategy to build a sustainable future for our community.

“We have been working to identify ways in which we could access working capital to ensure our future, however recently and following an exhaustive negotiation process with both State and Federal Governments in addition to our banking partner NAB; we have found ourselves in a difficult position.

“While the South Australian government has been sympathetic to our situation, they require the Commonwealth Government to fund at least half of the required amount we need to remain operational and the Commonwealth Government will not provide this aid.

“As such, today Bedford is devastated to announce that on Monday 28 July 2025 the organisation is expected to enter voluntary administration due to the lack of Commonwealth support.“

A federal government spokesperson said Bedford Group had received more than $40 million in NDIS funding since April 2024, and that they were supporting discussions between the company and state government, according to the Adelaide Advertiser.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said the state government would continue to work with Bedford Group, and that he will meet with company leadership on Friday.

“For some weeks, there have been active discussions between the state government and Bedford regarding its financial situation,” he said.

“There is no doubt that this is a very worrying time for people with disability who rely on Bedford, and I want them and their families to know that I will be doing everything I can to assist and support them through this challenging period.”