Former Affinity Education workers describe a 'toxic culture' with claims the childcare giant mishandled serious incidents in Canberra
Former childcare educators have revealed a serious incident in which a baby rolled off a change table at a Canberra childcare centre.
The staff told the ABC the incident happened at a centre run by Affinity Education in November 2023.
They join a growing chorus of former Affinity Education workers who are painting a picture of what went on inside the industry giant's centres.
In responding to the incident, educators administered first aid to the eight-month-old, and the baby's parents took them to a hospital emergency department, and the next day, to a doctor.
Affinity said it reported the incident to the ACT childcare regulator, conducted an internal investigation, terminated the responsible educator's employment, and provided counselling and training to affected staff.
In a statement to the ABC, Affinity said it followed up with the baby's parents who did not report serious injuries.
But educators who spoke to the ABC described it as "really horrific" and said they were left in the dark about how their employer had handled the fallout.
"Their biggest concern was that they had no idea where to go from there, and they obviously didn't want anything like that to happen again," the educator said, speaking to the ABC anonymously.
"The educators were never followed up with, no one was ever spoken to, it kind of just … nothing happened," they recalled.
According to Affinity, the regulator, Childcare Education and Care Assurance (CECA), never followed up with any regulatory notice.
CECA has been contacted for comment.
Affinity Education is in the spotlight after a disturbing video was made public last week of a worker at its South Strathfield centre repeatedly slapping a child across the face.
The for-profit company is one of the country's biggest childcare providers, operating 250 centres, including Papilio, Milestones and Kids Academy.
Recent reporting on the company has prompted educators to come forward to the ABC.
They have now left the industry but they want to remain anonymous.
Another case, documented in an incident report seen by the ABC, describes how an educator "dragged/directed the child into the dining room and locked the door behind him".
Affinity said the child was left alone for "approximately 15 seconds" and the educator's employment was terminated with the matter reported to the regulator and the child's family informed.
"The department investigated the matter and Affinity did not receive any regulatory notifications as a result of the incident," an Affinity spokesperson said.
But CECA said it never received a report.
More recently, a 17-month-old boy suffered a spiral fracture after attending an Affinity-run centre in the ACT — an injury that can be caused by forceful twisting, which can snap the bone.
Affinity said it notified the department and launched an investigation, but again, CECA did not enforce any regulatory notices or raise any concerns.
CECA said it could not disclose information about the case.
Do you know more about this story? Email Toomey.Jade@abc.net.au
CECA has confirmed that since the start of 2024, it took action against one Affinity-run centre in the ACT for failing to notify the regulator about a notifiable issue.
Even when proper processes were followed, educators said parents remained in the dark about serious safety breaches.
A centre was handed a show cause notice in February 2023 for failing to adequately supervise a trio of three-year-old children for six minutes.
Affinity said its educators were counselled and an internal investigation resulted in a corrective training plan and revised supervision plan.
But parents at the centre were never told.
In a statement, Affinity said it took concerns from families seriously.
"Detailed information about individual centre compliance histories, including any regulatory actions or notices, is maintained at centre level and is available to families," the company said in a statement.
Since the start of 2024, CECA received 49 notifications of incidents or complaints about Affinity-run centres in the ACT.
They ranged in seriousness from child illness, injury, and educator handling of children, to meeting children's medical and toileting needs, educator qualification and staffing concerns.
Affinity said it takes breaches of its standards extremely seriously and has strict policies that require immediate action, and emphasises a culture of self-reporting.
It requires logging incidents internally within 12 hours, mandatory reporting to authorities within 24 hours, contacting a child's families, standing down or terminating staff and conducting a full investigation with relevant authorities.
Part of the reason some safety breaches went unreported, the educators said, was because some staff did not realise their legal obligations to do so.
"These educators needed further training, and they needed to be supported and developed," said one educator, who held a leadership position at an Affinity centre.
Affinity said that "where concerns are identified, staff may be placed on a formal performance improvement plan".
"We have robust performance management and child safety protocols," the spokesperson said.
But the educator said they had been "met with silence" when they appealed for help for under-performing staff.
"So, all you would be doing is moving the issue to another service."
Affinity denied that, saying it was not its practice to reassign employees who have failed to meet standards.
"Particularly in matters relating to child safety, wellbeing, or conduct, Affinity will not hesitate to take decisive action, including termination of employment," the company said.
The former Canberra educators said they have chosen to speak out about things they saw at Affinity so parents know the reality of the industry.
"I would like for there to be a proper review of the childcare system," one educator said.
"I've often had this conversation with first-time parents: they're taking their heart out and giving it to you, to trust you.
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