Latest news with #TimHickey
Daily Telegraph
13-05-2025
- Daily Telegraph
‘Profoundly sorry': Horror as child slapped by worker
Don't miss out on the headlines from Parenting. Followed categories will be added to My News. 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. Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this. The footage was reportedly posted to Snapchat with a laughing emoji in May 2023. The video was obtained by ABC's 7.30. The program 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, and 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. The childcare worker was convicted by police. Picture: ABC '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 1700 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.' This story was republished with permission from Originally published as 'Profoundly sorry': Horror as child slapped by worker
Sky News AU
13-05-2025
- Sky News AU
'Every parent's nightmare': Worker at major childcare provider caught on camera repeatedly slapping baby in disturbing video
A Sydney worker has been caught slapping a baby multiple times at a prominent childcare centre, sparking major concerns for children's safety at one of Australia's largest childcare providers. In the shocking video filmed at an Affinity Education centre in south Strathfield, a staff member can be seen slapping a crying baby across the face multiple times while laughing during the cruel act. The worker behind the camera posted the ordeal to Snapchat in 2023 and can be heard laughing alongside her colleague in the footage. The video was obtained by the ABC's 7.30 program in a damning investigation into Affinity Education- one of Australia's largest for-profit childcare companies which has previously been hit with 1,700 regulatory breaches. The childcare worker in the video has been sentenced to a community corrections order and banned from working in childcare for 12 months. Her colleague who recorded the footage has resigned from her role. A former Affinity employee told the ABC the latest scandal at the childcare centre was a result of hiring the wrong people and not enough supervision, checks or balances. She further added Affinity prioritised keeping the costs down, including wages. "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," she told the ABC. "They [Affinity] are just not suitable to be in the childcare industry because they are just so greedy. "They cut staff, they put the staff under so much pressure … they're just a big company that wants to make money out of children." Another former educator said Affinity was more focused on business outcomes rather than children's safety. Affinity Education CEO Tim Hickey spoke on the disturbing video and said the business had acted swiftly after it was informed by police. "I want to express again how profoundly sorry I am that something like this could occur to any child in our care," he said. "These incidents are not representative of the dedicated, professional team who care for children every day across thousands of centres.'' The latest incident has ignited national outrage, Sydney radio host Ben Fordham on Tuesday morning labelling it "one of the most disturbing" acts he has seen in a long time. "It is sickening," Fordham said on his 2GB show. "It's every parent's nightmare, you think these people are looking after your little one, instead they are slapping your baby and sharing the video with their friends on Snapchat." Fordham further criticised the regulator's disciplinary action against the childcare worker in the video and suggested she should be "banned for life". Additional documents obtained by the ABC expose a concerning environment for children's safety at Affinity centres across the nation due to staffing and safety issues. According to the ABC, in another recent case a mother picked up her son from an Affinity centre in Canberra and immediately knew something was wrong. The child was acting unusually and lethargic at home, and the next day he was taken to hospital after his arms had swollen to twice their size. Hospital scans confirmed the child had suffered a spiral fracture, which can be caused by forceful twisting. Further, at a centre in Elderslie, in south-west Sydney, CCTV footage showed a toddler being pulled by the arm by a staff member and pushed across a room in 2023, according to the ABC. Affinity runs about 250 centres nationwide, including the brands Papilio, Milestones and Kids Academy. Despite recording over 1,700 regulatory breaches between 2021 and 2024, the company has been fined less than $2,000 over the period.
News.com.au
12-05-2025
- News.com.au
‘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.'
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Daily Mail
We trust childcare workers to look after our children. Now this horrific video shows every parent's worst nightmare
Concerning Snapchat video has emerged of a NSW childcare worker slapping a crying baby in the face. The video, obtained by the ABC's 7.30, was filmed at an Affinity Education centre in the inner western Sydney suburb of South Strathfield. The nine second-long video, shot in May 2023, was filmed by another colleague and is just one incident among hundreds uncovered in newly released public documents. The broadcaster looked into Affinity Education - which runs 250 childcare centres across the country - after NSW Greens MP Abigail Boyd petitioned the state's childcare regulator to release a tranche of industry regulatory paperwork. One former Affinity employee said cost cutting at her workplace had reduced the staff-to-child ratios to worrying levels and 'caused serious incidents in the centre'. The former staff member said young, untrained workers were being hired because they were cheaper than experienced educators with years of good references. She said the video was a symptom of that larger problem. The childcare worker in the video was convicted of common assault and given a community corrections order. She was also banned by the regulator from working in childcare for 12 months. The colleague who filmed the video resigned. Affinity CEO Tim Hickey said the 'safety, wellbeing, and development of every child' must be the first priority. He said the business had acted swiftly after it was informed of the incident by police. '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.' Another 2023 incident investigated by the regulator involved a worker, captured on CCTV in the south-west Sydney suburb of Elderslie, pulling a small child by the arm across the floor of a childcare centre. A further incident from Epping in Sydney's north saw a child require medical treatment for a dislocated elbow after an educator grabbed them by the wrist and yanked them backwards. That staff member was also banned from working in childcare for 12 months. The documents detail scores of other similar shocking incidents. The ABC claimed that between 2021 and 2024 Affinity Education centres in NSW were hit with more than 1,700 regulatory breaches. It was issued nine infringements notices and received less than $2,000 in penalties. Affinity is owned by a private equity firm and runs childcares centres under three marquee brands Milestones, Papilio and Kids Academy.
