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 where a child was used as a human mop to wipe their own vomit, an inquiry has heard.
He was one of several chief executives from large for-profit childcare providers who appeared before a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday amid growing community anger that childcare businesses are prioritizing profit over children’s safety.
### Disturbing Safety Breaches
Among the reported incidents was the disturbing case at Affinity’s Milestones centre in Raby, western Sydney, in 2023, where a child was used as a human mop. Other abuse cases revealed this year include workers slapping a baby repeatedly and children being forced to drink liquid medicine from a paint cup.
Affinity Education is also at the center of an alleged sexual abuse scandal linked to the sector. Allegations have surfaced that Joshua Dale Brown sexually abused children at numerous Victorian centres, including 13 owned by the group. In July, a 21-year-old worker at an Affinity centre in Brisbane was charged with indecent treatment of a child.
### CEO’s Response and Company Performance
Affinity’s chief executive, Tim Hickey, told the inquiry that the company has been investing heavily in safety and compliance across its 250 centres operating nationally, 102 of which are 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 childcare operators to ensure that we learn and improve,” Hickey said.
He stated that 90 per cent of Affinity’s centres were meeting the national quality health and safety standards as judged by the regulator.
### Contrasting Perspectives on Safety
However, inquiry chair Abigail Boyd painted a very different picture regarding children’s safety at the NSW centres managed by Hickey. She noted that since Affinity was acquired by Quadrant Private Equity in 2021, the safety breaches per centre have been 30 per cent higher than the NSW average.
Boyd highlighted that safety breaches are not reflected in publicly available centre ratings. She added, “Within three years of that Quadrant ownership, your breach per centre was then 70 per cent higher than the average in NSW. That’s a significant decline in quality and safety in the three years since Quadrant Private Equity bought Affinity.”
### CEO Salary and Accountability
Hickey disclosed that he receives a base salary of $625,000 and indicated that safety is one of his key performance indicators. While he mentioned experiencing some financial penalty due to the safety breaches, he did not specify details and could not confirm if his bonus — which can be up to 50 per cent of his salary — was affected.
When asked if his salary and total package had increased over the past three years, he replied, “Yes, it would have gone up.”
### Statements from Other Industry Leaders
G8 Education’s chief executive, Pejman Okhovat, told the inquiry that his total compensation package was $3.3 million last year, with less than half being base salary. Okhovat emphasized that G8 maintains a culture of reporting and disputed claims that cash bonuses to centre directors, partly based on low staff turnover, discourage reporting incidents due to fears of damaging a centre’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 the occupancy,” he explained.
### Proposed Legislative Changes
Legislation introduced to the NSW state parliament earlier this month aims to empower the NSW regulator to require centres to publicly display information about any current investigations. Additionally, the legislation proposes increasing the maximum penalties for businesses operating more than 25 services by 900 per cent.
### Calls for Greater Transparency and Reform
Sam Page, chief executive of the parents and children advocacy group Early Childhood Australia, called for increased transparency regarding incidents at childcare centres.
“It would come as a surprise if a family saw they were meeting the standards and then had to look elsewhere to find out if there was a safety breach or other issue. That does not meet public expectations,” she said.
On the topic of private equity profiting from childcare providers, Page expressed the desire to see a reduced proportion of for-profit centres as the government moves toward expanding universal childcare.
“I do think we should require providers to have early childhood expertise on their boards and expect a more modest return on investment — a lower level of profit — and in return, lower risk for their investment,” she added.
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