‘Profoundly sorry': Horror as child slapped by worker
A disturbing Snapchat video of a child being slapped by a worker for entertainment has been obtained by the ABC as part of an investigation into one of Australia's biggest childcare providers.
The nine-second video, which was taken at Affinity Education centre in Sydney's inner west in South Strathfield, shows the child crying in a bouncer as they are slapped in the face multiple times by the worker.
The footage was reportedly posted to Snapchat with a laughing emoji in May 2023.
The video was obtained by ABC's 7.30, who gained access to a stack of internal regulatory documents following a parliamentary order obtained by Greens MP Abigail Boyd.
Affinity Education, which is privately owned runs 250 childcare centres across the country, includes the brands Papilio, Milestones and Kids Academy.
The worker has since resigned from the centre and was convicted of common assault. She was given a community corrections order and banned from working in childcare for 12 months.
The colleague who filmed the video has also resigned.
Affinity Education CEO Tim Hickey said the centre acted quickly after being notified of the incident by police.
'The safety, wellbeing, and development of every child must always come first,' Affinity CEO Tim Hickey said in a statement after declining an interview by ABC's 7.30.
'I want to express again how profoundly sorry I am that something like this could occur to any child in our care.
'These incidents are not representative of the dedicated, professional team who care for children every day across thousands of centres.'
The ABC said that between 2021 and 2024, Affinity centres across NSW had received more than 1,700 regulatory breaches, clocking up more than one a day. Despite this, they have been fined less than $2000.
The ABC also obtained footage of a worker dragging a toddler by the arm at a centre in Elderslie, in south-west Sydney,
Former Affinity employee Loretta Dodwell, who worked at a Queensland centre, said the culture at the education company was 'toxic'.
'The cost cutting and the lack of staff really caused serious incidents in the centre,' she told 7.30.
'They were also putting on lots of trainees, like young trainees that were cheap to employ and that put a lot of pressure on the qualified staff.'
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