Daycare chain’s investors demand answers over childcare safety crisis

Shareholders of a for-profit childcare chain where accused childcare paedophile Joshua Dale Brown allegedly sexually assaulted children are demanding answers from the company about its handling of the scandal.

The case against Brown and his co-accused, Michael Wilson, will return to court briefly on Tuesday, while investors in the publicly listed G8 Education are demanding a meeting with the company’s management after this masthead revealed G8 may have misled the stock market about what it knew and when.

Investors are demanding answers over what G8 Education knew about alleged childcare abuser Joshua Brown.Credit: Marija Ercegovac

The charges against Brown plunged the state into its most serious childcare safety crisis when they were publicly revealed on July 1.

More than 2000 children who had attended any of the 24 daycares where the 26-year-old had worked since 2017 have been recommended for testing for sexually transmitted infections, and pressure continues to mount over the failure of state oversight authorities and childcare operators who employed Brown over the years to act on red flags about his behaviour.

Brown faces 70 charges of sexual offending against children at G8’s Creative Garden centre in Point Cook while he worked there in 2022 and 2023, with police alleging that he abused eight toddlers and babies, and contaminated children’s food with bodily fluids.

Wilson, who has never worked in childcare, faces 40 charges, including possessing child abuse material, bestiality and rape. It is not clear how Brown and Wilson knew each other; however, it is alleged the pair communicated via encrypted app Telegram.

The two men remain in custody, are due back in court in September and have been excused from appearing at an administrative application by police and prosecutors at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning.

G8 has repeatedly claimed, including in correspondence to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), that it first learnt of the allegations against the 26-year-old on July 1, when the charges were first publicised by police.

But this masthead revealed on Saturday that some centres owned by the chains were hit with search warrants as early as May as detectives accessed Brown’s work records and questioned staff about his movements to compile their initial list of exposed workplaces.

Superannuation fund and shareholder Future Super had already requested a meeting with G8 to discuss its child safety and protection measures.

“Following additional allegations published over the weekend regarding G8’s possible failure to accurately disclose these issues to the ASX, we have sent further communication to G8 expressing our concern and requesting an urgent meeting and response,” a Future Super spokesperson said on Monday.

Michael Simon Wilson, 36, is facing 40 charges, including rape, bestiality and possession of child abuse material.

G8 executives also recently met another major shareholder, Australian Retirement Trust, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting who requested anonymity to speak freely.

A spokesperson for the industry super fund declined to respond to questions on Monday, instead pointing to an earlier statement: “We are seeking an explanation from G8 Education around their staff screening processes and ongoing child safety measures, what steps they will now take to improve these processes, and related governance issues.”

Australian Ethical, which owns a small shareholding in G8 Education, also declined to comment, but an insider who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the investment manager was reviewing their investment following the news.

Other shareholders including industry super fund HESTA and investment manager Tanarra Capital declined to comment.

A G8 Education spokesperson doubled down on Monday, denying it had misled the ASX.

“G8 Education first became aware of the charges against Brown involving children shortly after it was made public in the morning of 1 July 2025, following media reporting. G8 Education has acted in accordance with ASX Listing Rules 3.1 and 3.1A,” the spokesperson said, referencing the stock exchange disclosure rules.

Premier Jacinta Allan said on Monday that a statewide register of childcare workers, promised as part of the government’s reaction to the crisis, would be operational by the end of August, as scrutiny of the official oversight of the case intensified.

This masthead’s investigation also revealed that Brown had been fired from at least three other childcare centres before he was arrested, and employers failed to pick up errors on his resumé.

It has also emerged that the state’s Commissioner for Children and Young People failed to act on substantiated reports that Brown had been aggressive towards children in his care, and that the independent commission opted not to review the alleged offender’s working with children credentials.

Questioned on Monday about the conduct of the commission, the premier did not defend the agency’s lack of action against Brown and referred questions back to the commission.

Allan said changes would be made to the system, including the commission, if they were recommended by the “rapid review” being undertaken by former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill and senior Victorian public servant Pamela White.

A spokesperson for the Commissioner for Children and Young People declined to comment on the Brown case specifically, but said the agency’s governing legislation granted it the discretion over the escalation of a finding of reportable conduct to a working with children check review.