The boss of one of Australia’s largest for-profit childcare companies has been unable to tell an inquiry whether his bonuses were docked over a rise in safety breaches.<\/p>\n
Tim Hickey, the chief executive officer of Affinity Education Group, appeared at a state parliamentary inquiry into the sector on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
Mr Hickey told the inquiry his bonus payments were tied to his key performance indicator of delivering safe and high quality centres.<\/p>\n
But when asked by the chair, Greens MP Abigail Boyd, whether he received the full amount in the past few years, he was unsure.<\/p>\n
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The inquiry asked Mr Hickey to explain the “significant decline” in quality and safety since his company was taken over by the private equity firm. (ABC News: Simon Amery)<\/p>\n
“I’d have to get back to you on that. I don’t believe I have, but I don’t want to misinform the inquiry,” Mr Hickey said.<\/p>\n
“It’s a significant amount of money though. I would know if I’d got my whole $300,000 to $400,000 bonus every year,” Ms Boyd said.<\/p>\n
Mr Hickey said he could receive an annual bonus of up to half of his $625,000 base salary.<\/p>\n
Labor MP Anthony D’Adam pressed the chief executive on what dollar amount was at stake if he failed on safety questions.<\/p>\n
“Quite frankly, if I fail at a significant level of safety and quality I can receive nothing,” Mr Hickey said.<\/p>\n
Inquiry told of breaches<\/p>\n
Earlier, the inquiry heard the rate of breaches at Affinity Education Group centres climbed from 30 per cent above the state average to 70 per cent after the company was bought by Quadrant Private Equity in 2021.<\/p>\n
Ms Boyd asked Mr Hickey to explain the “significant decline” in quality and safety since his company was taken over by the private equity firm.<\/p>\n
“I don’t work for private equity, I work for Affinity, and my job is to sustain profitability in our centres so that we can reinvest back into the educators, back into the centres,” Mr Hickey said.<\/p>\n