Our Vision

Goodstart was founded by a partnership of four of Australia’s leading charities who recognised a child’s early years experiences had a huge influence on the rest of their lives — The Benevolent Society, The Brotherhood of St Laurence, Mission Australia, and Social Ventures Australia.

For more than a decade Goodstart, as a not-for-profit social enterprise, has been creating positive social change by giving Australia’s children, especially our most vulnerable, the best possible start in life through access to high quality early learning and care. 

Today, Goodstart is Australia’s largest provider of early learning and care and Australia’s largest non-government provider of preschool and kindergarten programs. 

We employ more than 15,800 employees including 2000 teachers and provide high quality early learning to more than 61,400 children across over 654 centres nation-wide.  

Around one third of our centres are in rural and regional areas and around one quarter are in low socio-economic areas.

Our Vision and Purpose

Our Vision is for Australia’s children to have the best possible start in life.

Our Purpose is to ensure children have the learning, development and wellbeing outcomes they need for school and life.  

Our Guiding Principles

• Children are central to everything we do.
• Our people make the difference.
• Families are our primary partner.
• Being a valued member of each unique community.

Our ambition

Our Strategic Goals (2021 - 2025) represent the next phase in our journey to further deliver on our purpose and be the most rewarding and inclusive place to work. 

• Exceptional Quality: Our practice will be world class; we will deliver 'best practice' and discover 'next practice'. 
• Inclusion for Everyone: We will be a place of opportunity where all children, families and Goodstarters feel safe to belong. 
• Impact beyond Goodstart: We will create an unstoppable force for change in the early years ecosystem.
• Amazing Goodstarter Experience: We will be known as a place where our people learn, grow and have a real voice.
• Personalised Family Experience: We will value our families for who they are and what they bring.
• Thriving Organisation: We will be a financially thriving organisation that reinvests to improve children's outcomes in and beyond Goodstart.

Learn more about who we are and The Goodstart Story.