Sydney childcare worker filmed slapping a crying baby for social media clout, sparking national outrage
A disturbing video of a Sydney childcare worker slapping a baby has exposed major safety concerns at one of the country’s largest childcare providers, an investigation reveals.
NSW
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A Sydney childcare worker has been filmed slapping a baby for social media clout, according to an investigation by the ABC’s 7.30 program.
The disturbing nine-second video, taken at an Affinity Education centre in South Strathfield, shows a baby crying hysterically in a bouncer while being repeatedly slapped across the face by a childcare worker.
A colleague filmed the abuse and reportedly posted the footage to Snapchat with a laughing emoji in May 2023.
The incident has ignited national outrage and renewed scrutiny on Affinity Education, one of Australia’s largest childcare providers, which operates more than 250 centres nationwide under the brands Papilio, Milestones, and Kids Academy.
ABC’s 7.30 program obtained the video as part of an extensive investigation into the company, gaining access to a trove of internal regulatory documents following a parliamentary order initiated by Greens MP Abigail Boyd.
The worker featured in the video has since resigned and was convicted of common assault.
She received a community corrections order and was banned from working in childcare for 12 months. The colleague who recorded the footage also resigned from their role.
Affinity Education CEO Tim Hickey said the company acted swiftly upon being alerted to the incident by police.
“The safety, wellbeing, and development of every child must always come first,” Hickey said in a statement, after declining an interview with 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.”
While the video is only nine seconds long, according to the ABC investigation it highlights ongoing systemic issues around staffing, oversight and safety inside the billion-dollar enterprise.
ABC revealed that between 2021 and 2024, Affinity Education centres in New South Wales alone recorded over 1,700 regulatory breaches — more than one per day on average. Despite this, the company was fined less than $2,000 over the period.
They also obtained another disturbing incident at a childcare centre in Epping, northwest Sydney, showing a staff member aggressively yanking a child by the wrist, pulling them backwards and causing an elbow dislocation that required medical treatment.
In July 2023, the NSW regulator issued a compliance notice to the Epping centre in relation to the elbow injury.
The notice also revealed that since 2021, Affinity had been cited for 79 breaches involving inappropriate discipline and faced 51 compliance actions across its centres in New South Wales.
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