Sydney childcare abuse investigation expands to South Australia

Investigation into Sydney childcare worker expands to South Australian Indigenous community Wed 15 Jul 2026 at 1:10pm In short: An Australian Federal Police investigation into alleged childcare abuser Hamish Tait has expanded to a remote Indigenous community in South Australia. Mr Tait is facing 329 charges related to the alleged abuse of 136 children over a 16-year period. The AFP believe Mr Tait shared child abuse material to an individual overseas on at least three occasions. A federal police investigation into a Sydney childcare worker who allegedly abused 136 children has expanded to a remote Indigenous community in South Australia as authorities search for an anonymous overseas individual who was allegedly sent abuse material. Hamish Tait is facing 329 charges related to the alleged abuse of the children over a 16-year period. A court order protecting the 35-year-old's identity was lifted on Monday, allowing him to be revealed as the man arrested by Australian Federal Police (AFP) in July last year. His 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. The matter remains before the courts in NSW and he has not been charged with any offences in South Australia. The AFP said Mr Tait had either worked at or attended 62 childcare centres over the course of his career, but believe his alleged offending occurred at four centres in Sydney and at his own early education business, Wild Earthlings in Glenorie. Police have established a website under Operation Moonbi, which includes a list of the 55 childcare centres where Mr Tait worked at or attended between 2009 and 2025, predominatingly in Sydney's north-west. A small government preschool in a remote Indigenous community in South Australia has been included on the list, with police saying that Mr Tait worked at the school in a voluntary capacity in the mid-2010s. The ABC understands several centres have been removed from the list over the past few days after detectives confirmed that Mr Tait had no access to children during brief visits, which often focused on speaking to staff. Accused 'spent a lot of time in remote Indigenous communities' Addressing the media on Monday, AFP Acting Commander Luke Needham said all current charges related to alleged offending in NSW, but said investigators had identified "limited offending that occurred in South Australia". Mr Tait previously advertised on his now-closed business website that he had "spent a lot of time in remote Indigenous communities both teaching and learning from the people and the land". "I adore watching children explore and express their innate curiosity and creativity and hope that during our time spent together we can give each child a magical experience that shapes and guides who they are," his website previously read. 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," Mr 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 and that the investigation was ongoing. "The Department for Education has a policy around informing a school community at the appropriate time whenever allegations of sexual misconduct are made against any person who has been involved in any capacity at a school, including external contractors and volunteers," the spokesperson told the ABC. AFP searching for individual overseas Acting Commander Needham said the AFP had been in contact with 121 families in Australia and overseas, but 22 victims were still yet to be identified. He said investigators believed Mr Tait shared the child abuse material to an individual overseas on at least three occasions. "Unfortunately, we have uncovered evidence of him sharing this material with an individual overseas. Those enquires are ongoing," he said. "[Our] investigation is continuing in attempting to identify who that individual is." At this stage, the AFP has found no evidence of any sexual assault. Mr Tait has been in custody since his arrest last year. A dedicated local contact point has also been established for families who believe they may be impacted to contact health professionals and counsellors.