Premier Youthworks management acknowledges that avoiding further public scrutiny is part of the motivation behind its decision to apply for not-for-profit status.
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The company has also defended turnover in its senior ranks that has seen three different chief executives at the helm within the space of a few months.
Premier Youthworks runs group homes for vulnerable children who have been removed from the care of their families across Newcastle, NSW, and the ACT.
Between 2013 and 2017 the company has been paid a combined $44 million by the ACT and NSW governments.
As one of the few for-profit agencies in the sector, Premier has faced intense scrutiny over the last 12 months over its handling of taxpayer funds, as well as over staffing and conditions inside some of its group homes.
Fairfax Media has obtained an email circulated among Premier Youthworks staff on November 17, in which chief executive Jared Gillard announced the company would be seeking not-for-profit status.
Mr Gillard is a former caseworker with the NSW Department of Family and Community Services (FACS).
"Becoming a not-for-profit entity has been something that has been on the radar for a long time at Premier Youthworks and considered by the Leadership Team and [director] Lisa [Glen] strongly in recent years," Mr Gillard wrote.
"We felt that it had to be a very considered decision to make such a huge change to the organisation and fundamentally impact on the structure of Premier Youthworks."
Less than a month earlier, a spokeswoman answering questions on behalf of Premier Youthworks said the company was not ditching its for-profit status.
"No we have not applied for not-for-profit status, but this is something PYW has considered from time to time," she said.
In a November interview with Fairfax Media, Premier Youthworks managing director Lisa Glen was questioned about whether such a change could be in the pipeline.
"This is been something that we've been tossing around for, oh gosh, a long time. And even more so probably this last 12 months, because if that was something that would maybe get us out of the media attention," she said.
Not-for-profit entities qualify for a range of tax concessions but must direct profits towards the purpose of the business.
Whistleblowers have complained the organisation lacks proper financial management and risk management frameworks.
"It's like nothing I've experienced before. The organisation has no IT systems. The most advanced financial system was Microsoft Excel," a former employee said.
"From a financial management perspective it is just a recipe for disaster."
The care of the children - who had often experienced significant trauma - suffered as a result, he claimed.
"Because they don't invest in the basic framework, it's a shemozzle – the service to the kids," he said.
But those allegations were strenuously denied by the company. A spokesperson said it had a governance advisory board and used a range of expert consultants to support governance and risk management.
"We are answerable to the NSW and ACT governments who are across all of this," he said.
He also rubbished the claim about Microsoft Excel.
"[The company] utilises a range of modern systems and continues to invest in new systems."
Ms Glen pointed to the five-year accreditation that Premier received from the NSW Office of the Children's Guardian in June as an indication the company was well run.
"You don't just get it easily," Ms Glen said. "You have to be doing the right thing."
Premier was accredited in the ACT in 2015.
Earlier this year the company's two previous chief executives, Mathew McGovern and Elaine De Vos, resigned successively in the space of a month.
Around the same time, manager of corporate services and human resources Bill Armstrong also called it quits, after less than 12 months in the job.
Fairfax Media attempted to contact the former employees to discuss the reasons behind their resignations, but they did not respond to calls.
Ms Glen denied the staff turnover in the company's senior ranks was abnormal, given the sector and the size of the organisation.
"In terms of senior management turning over, Matt McGovern was the first to leave but he'd worked here for over 10 years … Elaine came on and had to leave because of personal reasons and gosh, most organisations this size have staff turnover," Ms Glen said.
"We have had a tough year, granted, but it is what it is. The corporate services manager put in his resignation [but] there was no issues leading up to that."
