Second childcare provider vows CCTV, nappy change choice rollout

A second major childcare provider that employed an accused child abuser has vowed to install CCTV across all its centres and allow parents to decide who changes their child’s nappies as for-profit operators scramble to bolster safety protocols.

On Wednesday, the private equity-owned Affinity Education said it would fast-track installation of CCTV cameras across more than 250 centres it operates across Australia “to enhance supervision and safety”. Affinity operates more than 100 centres in NSW and 50 in Victoria.

Unions have raised concerns about widespread understaffing at centres run by for-profit operators.Credit: Marija Ercegovac

Affinity also announced it would be “seeking parental preference regarding who assists their child with toileting or nappy changes”.

The company’s announcement came less than a day after the embattled childcare provider G8 Education told investors it would roll out CCTV to all its centres and allow parents to preference which educator changed their child’s nappies. G8 was responding to mounting pressure from investors since revelations about accused child sex abuser Joshua Dale Brown last Tuesday.

Both Affinity and G8 employed Brown – who was charged with more than 70 offences allegedly involving children he worked with across 20 childcare centres between 2017 and this May – across several of their childcare centres in Victoria.

Affinity CEO Tim Hickey said he was “deeply sorry for the distress this is causing our families”.

“No family should have to go through this,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

Hickey added that Affinity welcomed any review of regulation that “strengthens safeguards” and “enhances accountability”, and said the company would continue to co-operate with authorities investigating the allegations. This had so far included reviewing rosters and attendance logs.

Affinity said it would also review the layouts of its centres “to identify and rectify blind spots as well as auditing visibility into all care centres”.

The company will also roll out “personal device lockboxes nationally” where staff will be forced to store their mobile phones before starting each shift – after the Victorian government announced such a ban as part of snap reforms last week in the days after Brown’s charges were announced.

A source with direct knowledge of the details but not authorised to speak publicly said that Affinity would spend close to $10 million on the CCTV camera and phone lockbox rollout.

Affinity’s announcement comes as some of the for-profit providers who employed Brown face potential legal action.

John Rule, Maurice Blackburn principal lawyer in the law firm’s abuse practice, said a number of families affected by the childcare abuse allegations had made inquiries.

“We are giving these families advice on their legal options,” Rule said.

The comments follow those from another law firm, Arnold Thomas & Becker, which this week said it was filing a claim against national childcare giant G8 on behalf of a parent.

Any civil cases will not affect the charges against Brown, which must be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

Also on Wednesday, the results of a survey of 2100 early childhood educators taken in June – before the allegations against Brown were revealed – said widespread understaffing and constant breaches of staff-to-child ratios were negatively affecting children’s safety.

In Victoria, there needs to be one educator to four children under the age of 36 months and one educator to 11 children before preschool age.

But the United Workers Union Early Childhood Education and Care Quality and Safety Census has exposed “systemic issues” that make it “impossible to deliver the required quality of care”, said UWU early education director Carolyn Smith.

In the survey, 77 per cent of educators said they were operating below minimum staffing requirements at least weekly and 42 per cent said it was happening daily.

Scrutiny of for-profit providers has been heightened since the allegations surfaced.

G8’s major investors, including Wilson Asset Management, HESTA, Australian Retirement Trust and Tanarra Capital, have expressed concern to the company, such as requests for specific actions to bolster its child safety standards and employee checks.

Meanwhile, shareholder advisers have raised the prospect of clawing back some of G8 chief executive Pejman Okhovat’s pay.

By end of trading on Wednesday, G8’s share price closed at 93¢, a sharp decline from the $1.20 it was trading at before allegations surfaced last Tuesday.

Additional reporting by Nicole Precel.

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