Australia’s ‘worst day care paedophile’ targeted remote indigenous community on NT-SA border, police fear

One of the country’s most prolific alleged day care abusers travelled to a remote South Australian community and preyed upon vulnerable children, police suspect.

This masthead can also reveal advances in the case against Hamish Tait one day after he was unmasked as parents grapple with the devastating breach of trust and reach out to police.

Tait was charged in July last year by the Australian Federal Police under Operation Moonbi after he allegedly uploaded child abuse material to a cloud server.

The investigation has laid 329 charges against the 35-year-old, alleging he abused 158 children and worked at 62 centres. (See list at end of article.) The scale of the alleged offending means that if found guilty, he will have abused more children than any other childcare worker in the country’s history.

Electronic evidence recovered from Tait’s phones and devices allegedly shows he filmed children in toilets between 2009 and 2025 at five of those centres.

Tait’s identity was suppressed until Monday – when this masthead fought and defeated his legal bid to keep his name out of the press.

Court documents, lodged in the process to identify Tait, reveal details about the case against him – including that the AFP has identified alleged victims across Australia and the UK.

One passage, in a document from November last year, says the AFP reached out to South Australia Police.

“The AFP has engaged South Australia Police (SAPOL) in relation to access to an Indigenous Township in rural South Australia,” the document reads.

The document identifies a small community, which this masthead has chosen not to reprint to protect the identities of potential victims.

The township is one of many located in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands that border the Northern Territory in the west of South Australia.

The APY Lands are permit-only entry for most visitors, but Tait was working with children in the remote community, sources have told the Herald and The Age.

The details of the investigation are redacted from court documents.

Friends and family tagged Tait in Facebook posts related to news in the APY Lands as far back as 2018.

That year, Tait founded a business called Wild Earthlings that allowed Sydney parents to hand over their children to his care in bushland areas around the city.

Tait would introduce them to bushcraft. In social media posts the alleged paedophile is seen playing a didgeridoo for children, pushing them on swings and showing them leaves and bark.

“Each session begins with our Wild Earthlings acknowledgement of country, where we gather together and pay our respects to all First Nations people,” the now-deleted Wild Earthlings site reads.

“Natural, inviting activities such as clay, Indigenous perspectives, painting and many more ideas will be used in collaboration with the children and what they would like to learn.”

Operation Moonbi had identified more than 130 children recorded by Tait, court documents allege, but 22 remain unidentified.

The AFP, which supported this masthead’s bid to lift the gag order on Tait’s identity, activated a Local Contact Point on Monday evening.

It will allow concerned parents to reach out and help them identify further alleged victims from items of clothing allegedly recorded by Tait, including a dinosaur-print puffer vest, and a pink and gold backpack.

The contact point received about 40 calls within hours of Tait’s identity being reported on Monday afternoon.

‘I read it and was absolutely stick to my stomach – shaken to my core.’

Mother whose daughter was cared for by Tait

Politicians, parents and those who knew Tait reacted with shock as news spread of the allegations against the veteran day care worker.

One mother said she recognised Tait’s photograph in this masthead on Monday evening.

“I read it and was absolutely stick to my stomach – shaken to my core,” she said.

“As a parent, you put your trust in them and only to find out, years later, that he could be a paedophile? Devastating.”

The woman, who spoke anonymously, said parents felt Tait was “brilliant” in the years he taught their children.

“I was glad my daughter had a male childcare teacher, he was very personable, the kids seemed to love him and feel comfortable around him,” she said.

“This feels like a breach of trust. It’s completely unexpected.”

The mother is now considering reaching out to the AFP to get a definitive answer to a harrowing question – was her child one of the 22 unidentified youngsters allegedly filmed by Tait?

Online, hundreds more parents and teachers feared the same.

“Unfortunately, Windsor Preschool has been listed as one of the 62 Early Childhood Education facilities that it has been alleged Hamish Tait worked at or attended,” the preschool wrote online.

“There were no children in attendance and he did not have access to photos of any children.”

Another woman who worked with Tait urged people to reach out to the AFP.

“I worked alongside Hamish when I was 17 years old. I was completely unaware he had been jailed for the past year,” she wrote this month.

“My heart goes out to all families and [alleged] victims whose lives have been affected because of this man.”

Federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland, whose community extends into Sydney’s north-west, where Tait was allegedly most active in his abuse, said she was “sickened and heartbroken” by the news.

“Every child and young person has the right to be safe, and parents should be able to drop their children off at childcare without fear for their safety,” Rowland said.

“Child sexual abuse is an abhorrent crime, and anyone who has committed such vile acts must face the full force of the law.”

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the government was investing half a billion dollars to lift standards and safety across the centre.

It will include a national register for childcare workers and trialling CCTV in centres, along with banning workers’ personal phones.

“Not enough has been done in the past to keep our kids safe,” Clare said in a statement.

“This is not the end. It’s just the start. The terrible truth is this work will never end.”

Parents who believe their child had contact with Tait are being urged to reach out to the AFP’s contact point on 9765 1000, from 7am to 7pm AEST.