Hamish Alexander Edward Tait can now be named as the former Sydney childcare worker charged with 329 child abuse offences, after a court discontinued the non publication order that's kept his identity secret since his arrest a year ago.
The 35 year old from Glossodia, in Sydney's north west, worked at or attended 62 early childhood education facilities between 2009 and 2025. The Australian Federal Police allege he committed offences against children at five of them, and that the matter currently involves 136 victims.
Tait has been remanded in custody since he was charged on 10 July 2025, when his Working With Children accreditation was also suspended. The AFP says he doesn't pose a current threat to the community.
Video: Australian Federal Police. AFP officers arrest Hamish Tait in July 2025.
Four Fit Kidz centres and his own Wild Earthlings business are the five alleged abuse sites
The AFP's Operation Moonbi community information page lists every facility where Tait worked, and marks five where police allege offending occurred: Fit Kidz Learning Centres at Box Hill, Putney, Rouse Hill and Warrawee, and Wild Earthlings Glenorie.
The AFP describes the five as four childcare centres and Tait's own early education business. Wild Earthlings appears at four Sydney locations on the employment list: Cumberland State Forest, Glenorie, Sydney Park and Wolli Creek.
While he predominantly worked in Sydney's north west, the list stretches to Wollongong, the Central Coast and the Blue Mountains, and includes a school in remote South Australia he attended.
One report from a US missing children centre unravelled 16 years of alleged offending
Operation Moonbi began in June 2025 after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported an online user uploading a file depicting child abuse. The AFP linked Tait to the upload and executed a search warrant at his Glossodia home on 20 June 2025, seizing electronic devices for forensic analysis.
He was charged with eight online child abuse material offences on 10 July 2025. Further charges followed in April, June and July 2026 as investigators worked through the evidence. The AFP says the operation has involved 12 search warrants and the analysis of 2.4 million electronic files.
The charges: 329 counts and a possible 20 year maximum
Tait remains before the courts charged with:
- 162 counts of producing child abuse material
- 81 counts of aggravated filming of a person in a private act without consent
- 46 counts of using a child under 14 to produce child abuse material, 22 of them aggravated
- 18 counts of intentionally sexually touching a child under 10
- 13 counts of inciting a child under 10 to a sexual or indecent act
- 3 counts of aggravated filming of a person's private parts and one of aggravated indecent assault
- 5 Commonwealth counts of transmitting, possessing and accessing child abuse material online
The most serious offence, aggravated use of a child under 14 to produce child abuse material, carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment.
The AFP contacted 121 families before the public heard Tait's name
AFP Acting Commander Luke Needham said alleged victims and their families were contacted before the order was discontinued, with support tailored to their circumstances.
"The AFP has been in contact with 121 families, based around Australia and internationally, who we have positively identified their child as being depicted in child abuse material," a/Commander Needham said. Any form of child sexual abuse is confronting and horrific, even more so when the alleged perpetrator is an individual trusted with the care of our youth."
The AFP sought the non publication order so its victim identification teams could work without families first learning of the allegations through the media. The Sydney Morning Herald reports it fought for a year to have the order lifted, a push police ultimately backed in court on Monday.
Parents can check the full list of centres from 7am on Tuesday
The Operation Moonbi page is already live with the full list of 62 facilities, and a multi agency Local Contact Point formally opens at 7am on Tuesday, 14 July, backed by NSW Health, the NSW Department of Communities and Justice and the NSW Early Learning Commission.
Anyone with information about child abuse can contact the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation. If a child is at immediate risk, call 000.
Anyone needing support can contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, the National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service on 1800 211 028, Lifeline on 13 11 14 and the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.
