G8 Education to close about 40 Childcare centres across Australia
G8 Education will close about 40 childcare centres across Australia, with parents at affected sites told their children will be moved to nearby facilities where possible. The operator said the centres were underperforming and that staff will also be redeployed where possible.
Pejman Okhovat said on Wednesday that “G8’s focus remains on safety and providing high-quality care” and that “occupancy rates are down.” G8 made the announcement ahead of its annual general meeting of shareholders in Brisbane.
G8 Education’s Wednesday announcement
The company has almost 400 early learning centres, so the planned closures affect a limited share of its network while still touching families across multiple sites. For parents using those centres, the immediate change is practical: children will need to move to another nearby facility if one is available.
Okhovat’s comments tied the closures to both business performance and the company’s stated priorities. He said the closures follow centres described as underperforming, while repeating that safety and high-quality care remain the focus.
Joshua Dale Brown allegations
The announcement comes after allegations involving former educator Joshua Dale Brown, who was charged in 2025 with more than 150 sex offences against children. The alleged abuse was said to have happened at multiple childcare facilities, including G8 centres, between 2017 and 2025.
That history sits behind a restructuring move that is now being carried through at site level. Families at the centres marked for closure will be looking for transfer options, while staff are being moved where possible rather than simply cut loose.
Families and staff move next
For parents, the immediate task is to work with the company on placement at a nearby centre. For staff, the company said redeployment will happen where possible, which means some workers may stay within the business even as individual centres close.
The closure plan leaves G8 with a smaller footprint at the centre level and a narrower set of sites to absorb displaced children. That is the point at which the announcement stops being corporate housekeeping and becomes a day-to-day change for families already using the affected centres.
