A 35‑year‑old Sydney childcare worker, Hamish Tait, has been identified by police after a court order lifted anonymity. He is charged with 329 offences, including 162 counts of producing child‑abuse material and 81 counts of filming a child without consent.
Tait allegedly abused 136 children across five facilities between 2009 and 2025, mainly operating in the city’s north‑west region. Police say they have contacted 121 families and are still searching for 22 victims.
The Australian Federal Police AFP Acting Commissioner Luke Needham expressed horror at the alleged betrayal of trust in childcare settings.
Tait worked at or through 62 early‑childhood education facilities, with five sites linked to the offences, including four childcare centres and his own private business.
The charges also cover 22 counts of aggravated use of a child under 14 for the production of child‑abuse material and 18 counts of intentionally sexually touching a child under 10.
Police first linked Tait to illegal online activity in June last year, and found child‑abuse material during a raid on a property in Glossodia, just outside Sydney.
Recent years have seen other high‑profile daycare abuse cases in Australia, including Ashley Paul Griffith, who in 2024 confessed to 307 offences at childcare centres in Queensland, and Joshua Dale Brown, charged with dozens of offences at four daycare centres in Victoria.
