Affinity Education Group executives step down after childcare scandals, including arrest of pedophile Joshua Dale Brown
Two senior executives at one of Australia’s largest early childhood education providers have resigned following recent scandals; one of which involved a former employee being slapped with dozens of accusations of sexual misconduct.
Affinity Education Group confirmed Tuesday that CEO Tim Hickey and COO Nishad Alani are leaving the organization.
The company owns and operates more than 225 early education and childhood centers across Australia.
In July, former employee Joshua Dale Brown was charged with dozens of crimes related to multiple allegations of child sexual abuse. He has not yet entered his defense on the charges.
Mr Brown worked for multiple Affinity businesses between 2017 and 2025 but was working at a G8 Education Early Learning Center in Point Cook, Melbourne, at the time of his arrest.
Affinity Education Group said in a statement that its board of directors appointed Glen Hurley, the company’s senior advisor for compliance and quality, as its new CEO.
“He will take up this role from today, Tuesday, October 14,” a spokesman said.
“Mr. Hurley brings deep experience and strong operational insight and will transition seamlessly into this new role, working closely with many of our teams.
“He has 25 years of experience in a variety of senior executive roles in the aged care industry and has also served as a senior regulator.”
Mr Hurley will be joined on the management team by Nicola Page, who joined Affinity as chief compliance and risk officer on 8 October.
“Affinity remains deeply committed to providing safe, high-quality care to families across our entire network and to supporting our dedicated, professional team who raise and educate the children in their care with compassion and integrity,” the spokesperson continued.
Mr Hickey’s resignation follows a damaging outlook ahead of the NSW parliamentary inquiry into early childhood education and care in the state.
According to the ABC report, evidence of Affinity’s violations was given; The breach rate was 30 percent above the state average, but rose to 70 percent after the company was acquired by Quadrant Private Equity in 2021.
Asked about the decline, Mr Hickey said: “I don’t work for private equity, I work for Affinity and my job is to maintain profitability in our centers so we can reinvest in educators and centers.”
He also struggled to answer questions about whether his bonuses had been cut due to the increase in violations.
