The head of a private equity-owned childcare provider received a salary increase despite a series of horrifying safety breaches recorded by the regulator, including an incident in which a child was reportedly used as a human mop to wipe their own vomit, an inquiry has heard.
The executive was one of several CEOs from large for-profit childcare providers who appeared before a New South Wales (NSW) parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday. The hearing took place amid growing community anger over concerns that childcare businesses are prioritizing profit over children’s safety.
Among the unsettling incidents revealed was the case at Affinity Education’s Milestones Centre in Raby, western Sydney, in 2023, where a child was allegedly used as a human mop. Other reported abuses this year include workers repeatedly slapping a baby and children being forced to drink liquid medicine from a paint cup.
Affinity Education is also at the center of the sector’s alleged sexual abuse scandal, following accusations that Joshua Dale Brown sexually abused children at multiple Victorian centers, including 13 owned by the group. In July, a 21-year-old worker at an Affinity center in Brisbane was charged with indecent treatment of a child.
Affinity Education’s CEO, Tim Hickey, told the inquiry that the company has been investing heavily in safety and compliance at the 250 centers it operates nationally, including 102 in NSW.
“I can say, without doubt, that recent events are more troubling than any I’ve seen in this time, and I’m absolutely committed to doing everything within my control to ensure this never happens again. I accept significant responsibility as CEO of one of Australia’s largest childhood operators to ensure that we learn and improve,” Hickey said.
He also stated that 90 percent of Affinity’s centers were meeting the national quality health and safety standards, as judged by the regulator.
However, inquiry chair Abigail Boyd painted a vastly different picture regarding children’s safety at the NSW centers under Hickey’s management. She said that since 2021, when Affinity was bought by Quadrant Private Equity, the number of safety breaches recorded per center was 30 percent higher than the NSW average.
“What’s more, within three years of Quadrant ownership, your breaches per centre were 70 percent higher than the average in NSW. That’s a significant decline in quality and safety since Quadrant Private Equity acquired Affinity,” Boyd stated during the inquiry hearing.
Hickey revealed that he is paid a base salary of $625,000 and confirmed that safety is one of his key performance indicators. He indicated he had suffered some financial penalty over the safety breaches but did not specify any details. When asked whether his bonus—potentially up to 50 percent of his salary—had been affected, he was unable to say.
Regarding whether his salary and overall compensation had increased over the past three years, Hickey replied, “Yes, it would have gone up.”
At the same inquiry, Pejman Okhovat, CEO of G8 Education, acknowledged receiving a total package of $3.3 million last year, although less than half of that was base salary. Okhovat asserted that G8 maintains a reporting culture and denied that center directors receive cash bonuses based partly on low turnover rates, which could discourage staff from reporting incidents out of fear it might harm the center’s reputation.
“Occupancy is fundamentally a reflection of the local community trusting and believing that they can put their children there. If you have a poor reputation, you do not get occupancy,” Okhovat said.
Legislation introduced to the NSW state parliament earlier this month aims to increase transparency and accountability within the childcare sector. The proposed law would give the state regulator the power to require centers to publicly display information about any current investigations. It would also introduce a 900 percent increase to the maximum penalties applied to businesses that operate more than 25 services.
Sam Page, chief executive of the parent and child advocacy group Early Childhood Australia, said there must be greater transparency about incidents at childcare centers.
“It would come as a surprise if a family saw that a center was meeting the standards but then had to look elsewhere to find out if there had been any safety breaches. That does not meet public expectations,” she said.
Regarding private equity firms profiting from buying childcare providers, Page expressed her desire to see a reduction in the ratio of for-profit centers as the government works toward expanding universal childcare.
“I do think we should be looking at requiring providers to have early childhood expertise on their boards, and to expect a more modest return on investment—a lower level of profit. In return, this would mean lower risk for their investment,” she said.
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