Childcare group reviews staff movements after Joshua Brown worked at 23 centres in 8 years

Australia Broadcast Center

4 days ago

A major childcare operator is reviewing the way it employs its workers after authorities confirmed accused abuser Joshua Dale Brown worked at more sites than originally thought.
On Monday, authorities added four centres to a list of sites where the 26-year-old was known to have worked, and amended employment dates for 10 previously known locations.
They also recommended a further 800 children undergo "precautionary" infectious disease testing, bringing the total to 2,000.
Mr Brown has been charged with more than 70 offences, including sexual assault.
Detectives believe he worked at a total of 23 childcare centres over more than eight years, a workplace history that early learning experts say is not unusual.
Victoria Police have said it was "likely" more updates will be made to the list in coming weeks.
It has promoted some parents to question how Mr Brown worked shifts at almost two dozen centres, sometimes for just one day.
Affinity Education Group owns 13 of the 23 businesses where Mr Brown worked between 2017 and 2025.
In August 2024, Mr Brown was hired as a permanent part-time employee at Milestones Early Learning in Hoppers Crossing but the centre didn't open for business until November of that year.
While waiting for that new centre to come online and to increase its enrolments, he worked at other childcare centres owned by the company.
He worked at childcare centres owned by the group until May of this year.
In a statement published on its website, Affinity said: "While this is a common operational practice in the sector, we are now reviewing how these movements are managed through a stronger child safety lens."
G8 Education did not respond to detailed questions from the ABC about the nature of Mr Brown's employment, but based on the current list, he started working for the group in October 2021.
Across more than two years with G8, he worked at Creative Garden Point Cook, Leopold World of Learning, Greenwood Point Cook and Little Blossoms Child Care Centre Werribee.
He last worked for G8 Education in February 2024. The childcare giant said on Saturday that Mr Brown resigned following investigations into his conduct.
University of South Australia's senior lecturer in early childhood education, Martyn Mills-Bayne, said childcare centres experienced high rates of staff turnover.
"The high casualisation and part-time employment nature of the workforce means that there are many educators who work across centres, for different providers," he said.
A 2023 study commissioned by the Federal Government and conducted by Jobs and Skills Australia found 30 per cent of child carers were casually employed.
The same report found 30 per cent of education aides in the sector were on fixed term contracts.
Dr Mills-Bayne said that low wages and poor working conditions contributed to high rates of staff turnover.
When authorities announced earlier this month that Mr Brown had been charged with child sex offences, Emily's* partner contacted an Affinity Education Group centre to make sure he had not worked there.
She had two children at Milestones Early Learning in Greensborough.
"That centre wasn't on the list, but we thought let's just check to reassure ourselves,' she told the ABC.
She was shocked when the centre replied within hours and said Mr Brown had completed a shift at the service.
A week later she heard about additional dates from another parent, however it took two full weeks before authorities could confirm Mr Brown worked at Milestones Early Learning in Greensborough on three occasions.
Police have described the investigation to confirm Mr Brown's work history as 'extremely complex' with a lack of a centralised database meaning detectives needed to review handwritten records and shift rosters.
"It's already a difficult enough situation but to be sitting here waiting for official advice is incredibly stressful,' Emily said.
She was disappointed Affinity Education Group had not been personally contacting affected parents.
"I feel the communication from Affinity has been insufficient, to put it lightly,' she said.
"We shouldn't have to be playing detective ourselves".
An Affinity spokesperson said the company was committed to supporting affected families and would continue to "cooperate fully" with authorities.
G8 Education said in a statement it was "continuing to work with the Victorian Police, Victorian Government and other authorities as part of their ongoing investigation and are doing everything we can to give them the best chance of achieving justice for the children and families involved".
*Name has been changed to protect her children's identities.