‘DISTURBING’: FORMER SYDNEY DAYCARE WORKER FACING HUNDREDS OF CHILD ABUSE CHARGES

Wed 15 July 2026:

A Sydney childcare worker who was charged with 329 offences over his alleged abuse of 136 children at multiple daycare centres across a 16-year period can now be named.

Hamish Tait, 35, faces 329 charges of child abuse between 2009 and 2025 while working across 62 centres.

An investigation into an accused paedophile facing more than 300 child abuse charges has now reached a remote South Australian community, federal police say.

Hamish Tait is facing 329 charges related to the alleged abuse of children. (Supplied)

The charges include 162 counts of producing child abuse material, 81 counts of filming a person engaged in a private act without consent and 24 counts of using a child under 14 years for the production of child abuse material.

Some 136 alleged victims are known to police but a further 22 are yet to be identified.

Tait was arrested and charged in July 2025, when police seized almost 2.5m files from electronic devices at his home. He has remained in custody.

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Police have established a website under Operation Moonbi, which includes a list of the 55 childhood education facilities where Tait worked or attended between 2009 and 2025, many of which are in Sydney. Police have not suggested he offended at all centres named.

While the matter is before the courts in New South Wales and Tait has not been charged with any offences in South Australia, a small preschool in a remote Indigenous community has been included on the list.

On Wednesday the acting South Australian premier and Indigenous affairs minister, Kyam Maher, told 891 ABC Adelaide the allegations were “disturbing”.

“The police will of course investigate what’s happened, what the involvement was with children … this is disturbing and we would hope that the police investigate fully,” Maher said.

“I have requested more information from our South Australian police who work very closely with the federal police on a whole range of things, including these sorts of matters.”

In a statement, the SA education department said it was aware of the matter.

“We are aware of this matter with investigations continuing,” a spokesperson said.

Australians have been shaken by a string of cases of alleged child abuse at daycare centres in recent years.

They include the case of Ashley Paul Griffith who in 2024 confessed to 307 offences committed at childcare centres in Queensland and overseas over a 20-year period.

And last year police urged that more than 1,200 children in Victoria be tested for sexually transmitted diseases after Joshua Dale Brown was charged with dozens of child abuse offences allegedly committed at four daycare centres.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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