For parents of young kids looking for a playgroup it was the slickest of sales pitches: ‘We believe the two most sacred things are the Earth and our children… we will provide experiences that feed every child’s innate yearning to learn and grow’.
But the Wild Earthlings Nature Immersion playgroup’s breathless ad was swiftly pulled off the internet when its author, childcare operator Hamish Alexander Edward Tait, was handcuffed and charged over the most heinous of allegations.
Childcare worker Tait, 35, has been accused of 329 offences against up to 150 children between 2009 and 2025, while he worked at 62 different centres.
Should all the charges be upheld, he would be the country’s worst ever child sex offender.
Tait’s name and image could only be publicly identified on Monday when a court lifted a temporary non-publication order.
The since-deleted Facebook spiel for Tait’s playgroup, operating in Glenorie and West Pennant Hills in Sydney’s north-west, was alluring, mothers such as HM* admit.
The mum, who cannot be identified, said that when she first engaged Tait to mind her two kids he appeared on face value to be a child advocate.
‘He spoke about children with nothing but respect and dignity and advocated for their rights,’ she said.
Hamish Tait, 35, who promoted his nature-based childcare business saying the ‘two most sacred things are the Earth and our children’ has been revealed as the man charged with 329 child abuse offences
In promotional photos of his bushwalk and nature-based child care, Tait posed in outdoor gear leading tiny children (above, pixellated to protect their identity) on walks in forests and locations across northwestern Sydney
Police arrested Tait last July and he has since fought to keep his identity a secret for his own and his family’s ‘safety’, losing in court on Monday when a judge ruled his name could be exposed
Instead, police allege, Tait preyed on children, with many of the charges against him relating to the production of child abuse material.
Further counts against Tait include intentionally sexually touching a child aged under ten and dozens of aggravated charges for allegedly filming people in private acts or recording their private parts without consent.
The mother, Heather* – who said Tait had also minded her nieces and nephews and the children of friends – attended court last September, when details of the alleged crimes were revealed.
She said the allegations had made her feel ‘disgust, anger, grief, everything’.
Tait’s lawyers had recently argued that the gag orders on the identity of Tait, his parents and his wife should continue to ‘protect both the physical and mental safety’ of the family – an argument that lost in Parramatta Local Court this week.
The horrifying allegations, first laid against Tait upon his arrest a year ago and which have doubled and trebled in number since, arose from more than two million files seized from his phone and computers.
Tait, the heart and mind of Wild Earthlings childcare who plugged the business as a place where kids can ‘learn and grow’, is charged with more than 300 offences
Above is Wild Earthlings’ since-deleted ad blurb
Outside Parramatta Local Court, one mother, Heather*, said Tait had ‘spoken about children with nothing but respect and dignity’ but now she felt ‘disgust, anger, grief’ at the allegations
The files allegedly contain child abuse images and 500,000 ‘unique images’. The number of alleged child victims now consists of 136 identified and 22 as yet unidentified children.
One mother said outside court on Monday that revealing Tait’s identity created ‘chances for other potential victims to come forward … (if people) hear the name Hamish Tait and (their children) had contact with this man, contact the AFP’.
Private schoolboy to alleged predator
Tait, a former private schoolboy at Sydney’s elite Barker College with a bachelor of teaching from Charles Sturt University, came across as the ideal childcare operator.
A father of two daughters, he owned Wild Earthlings and worked as an educator at Fit Kidz learning centres, including the Rouse Hill branch once operated by his wife.
In a heartfelt endorsement entitled ‘3 reasons Nature is your perfect co-parent’, a children’s clothing brand backed him last year as the answer to childcare for anxious parents.
People including these who ran a kids’ clothing brand believed that Hamish Tait had the answer for anxious parents worrying how best to rear their children amid an overcrowded market of parenting advice
‘As parents we are continually exposed to a barrage of [parenting advice and “must-dos” … it’s little wonder we constantly worry if we’re doing enough to support our little ones in their fundamental years,’ the clothing label posted on Facebook.
‘We let out a huge sigh of relief after chatting to Hamish Tait, an early childhood educator of 10 years and Dad to two girls.
‘He is also the mind and heart behind Wild Earthlings … we guarantee you’ll be sighing soon too.
‘Hamish is here to remind us that supporting your little ones in their development is far more simple than social media has you thinking.
‘Hamish’s extensive experience with children of all ages … has seen him gather a mountain of experience in the ways nature can support our little people as they go through life.’
Police are expecting more parents may come forward after publishing the list of places where Tait worked. You can read the full list below.
Tait will face court at a later date.
*Not her real name
