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Goodstart is passionate about providing all children, from birth, with the best opportunities to develop into wonderful people.
Goodstart’s strong commitment to deliver high quality early learning and ensuring positive outcomes for all children in partnership with their families is evident in all we do.
Goodstart’s commitment to research is advancing the national and international evidence base on the value of early childhood education.
Ensuring all Australian children can regularly attend high quality early learning – no matter what barriers they face – is a vital part of Goodstart’s work.
Ensuring that all children have access to high-quality education in their early years is a vital part of addressing intergenerational disadvantage in Australia. Goodstart has a unique capability and opportunity to help make this goal a reality.
Investing in early education for all Australia’s children is the best investment Australia can make.
Goodstart’s Board ensures the organisation’s behaviour is consistent with its Vision, Purpose and Strategic Priorities. The Board of Goodstart has ultimate responsibility to the Member organisations for the strategy and performance of the company in general. The Board is dedicated to fulfilling these duties in a lawful and professional manner, and with the utmost integrity and objectivity.
Goodstart Chair, Non-Executive Director. Chair of People and Culture Committee, Member of Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, Member of Quality and Social Purpose Committee, Member of Safety, Health and Wellbeing Committee
B Comm; FCPA
Appointed 01 December 2019
Paul Robertson has extensive experience as a non-executive director and chair in a wide variety of commercial and not for profit organisations across Australia. He is the immediate past Chair of Social Ventures Australia, St Vincent’s Health Australia and Alzheimer’s Australia. He was also a Non-Executive Director of Dementia Australia, Sydney Theatre Company Foundation and Telco Together Foundation.
Paul is currently Chair of Humanity Health Group, Better Health Generation UK, Tonic Media Network, SIPfHER Precinct Council, Grace Papers, FP Ability, Able Foods and Founder and Executive Director of the Financial Markets Foundation for Children. He has broad experience in finance, including 27 years as Global Treasurer and Executive Director at Macquarie Bank.
Paul was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2018 for distinguished service to the community through ethical leadership and management of, and philanthropic contributions to, health, social enterprise, research, education and arts organisations.
Goodstart Deputy Chair, Non-Executive Director. Member of Quality and Social Purpose Committee, Member of People and Culture Committee, Member of Safety, Health and Wellbeing Committee
BA (Psych); LLB
Appointed 01 December 2018
Natalie Walker is the founder and Managing Director, of Inside Policy, a privately held boutique public consultancy and data analytics firm that advises government, corporates and not-for-profits on a range of social and economic policy matters. Natalie is a committed advocate for reconciliation and was previously the Chief Executive Officer of Supply Nation, a start-up greenfields company focused on increasing the participation of Indigenous business in the supply chain of Australia’s largest companies.
She is a Non-Executive Director of Life Without Barriers, Jawun and the Telstra Foundation. Natalie has previously held roles at KPMG Australia, the Australian Human Rights Commission, and in the Queensland Government.
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer
PhD; LLB; BSW; BA
Appointed March 2023
Ros Baxter is a leading Australian education executive who has spent the last 25 years working and partnering around the idea that early intervention and education are the keys to addressing intergenerational disadvantage. Since starting her career as a frontline social worker in child protection, Ros has worked across government and with partners in the community and research sectors to maximise understanding, investment and effective interventions for children and families. Before joining Goodstart, Ros was the Deputy Secretary for the Australian Government Department of Education and former First Assistant Secretary, Social Policy Division, of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
With a strong background in public policy as both a leader and policy analyst, in addition to consultancy experience, Ros brings a deep understanding of issues affecting children, families and the sector, benefitting Goodstart’s vision and purpose and ongoing focus to deliver on our strategic goals. In designing solutions, Ros is an advocate of partnering closely with families, educators and early learning services who know and understand children the best. With four children of her own, she believes that every person is different and differently capable, and that everyone has the right to a great start in life.
Non-Executive Director. Chair of Safety, Health and Wellbeing Committee, Member of Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, Member of Quality and Social Purpose Committee
B Econ; GAICD
Appointed 15 December 2015
Lynelle Briggs was a Commissioner on the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. She recently completed a review for the Australian Government on how to reduce politicisation of government board appointments.
Lynelle was formerly Chair of Maritime Super, Chairperson of NSW’s Planning Assessment Commission, Chairperson of the General Insurance Code Governance Committee, Councillor of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Board and a non-executive director of the Australian Rail Track Corporation. Lynelle is a former Australian Public Service Commissioner and former chief executive of Medicare Australia. She has extensive experience in the Australian Public Service, working in a wide range of fields, including social security, health and community services, transport, external territories, employment and labour market support and veterans’ affairs.
Lynelle became an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia in 2013 for distinguished service to public administration, particularly through leadership in the development of public service performance and professionalism.
Non-Executive Director. Member of Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, Member of Quality and Social Purpose Committee, Member of Safety, Health and Wellbeing Committee
B Econ (Hons); GAICD; SF Finsia
Appointed 06 December 2021
Philip Coffey is a highly regarded senior executive leader who has deep financial services experience. For over 20 years, Phil worked at Westpac Banking Corporation including three years as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Westpac Group. Prior to this role, Phil held a number of executive positions at Westpac including Chief Financial Officer and Group Executive. A passion for education led to Phil’s involvement in the Westpac Scholars program and his appointment as the inaugural Chair. Phil has over 30 years of senior executive experience – from leading significant investment decisions, large technology projects to mergers and acquisitions. Phil began his career at the Reserve Bank of Australia and he has also held executive positions at Citibank.
Phil is a Non-Executive Director of Macquarie Group Limited and Lendlease. He recently retired from the Board of Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
Non-Executive Director. Member of Quality and Social Purpose Committee, Member of People and Culture Committee, Member of Safety, Health and Wellbeing Committee
Ed.D
Appointed 01 December 2018
Kevan Collins has had a long career in education and public service. After stepping down from full time work as the Chief Executive at the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), he now supports a range of UK and international child and youth focused organisations. Prior to joining the EEF in 2011 as its first Chief Executive Officer, he was Chief Executive and Director of Children’s Services in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Kevan is now a Board Member of the EEF. Kevan started his career teaching in east London. He went on to lead schools in Yorkshire and London and became the National Director of the Primary National Strategy in 2002.
Kevan is Chair of the Youth Endowment Fund and Cognita Schools and Executive Vice Chair of Learning by Questions. Kevan is also a Board Member of the Australian Education Research Organisation.
Kevan completed his doctorate in 2001 and is a visiting professor at the University College London Institute of Education. He was knighted for his services to education in 2015.
Non-Executive Director. Chair of Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, Member of Quality and Social Purpose Committee, Member of Safety, Health and Wellbeing Committee
MBA (Hons), B Comm (Hons)
Appointed 01 January 2019
Chris Harrop is an Advisory Partner in the Sydney office of Bain & Company where he has worked for over 30 years in the US, UK and Australia. Bain is a global strategy consulting firm with over 14,000 staff across 65 offices in 40 countries. Chris has specialised in the services sector and on projects addressing corporate strategy, customer experience improvement and broad-based transformational change.
Chris formerly served on Bain’s global Board of Directors, and is a Non-Executive Director of Social Ventures Australia. He was a long-serving Board Member of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. He is a cofounder of Restacking the Odds, a not-for-profit partnership between Bain, Social Ventures Australia and MCRI working to address inter-generational disadvantage in Australia, and is a strategic advisor to For Purpose Investment Partners.
Chris earned an MBA with Honours from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland, and a Bachelor of Commerce with First Class Honours in Marketing from Otago University in New Zealand.
Goodstart Non-Executive Director
BEcon; FCA; FAICD
Appointed 28 November 2024
Belinda Hutchinson AC is a non-executive director with extensive experience across business, education and philanthropy. She currently serves as a Director of Australian Philanthropic Services, Qantas and Thales Australia, and is a Trustee of the St Vincent’s Curran Foundation. In 2020, she was appointed as a Companion of the Order of Australia for her significant contributions to business, tertiary education, scientific research and philanthropic efforts addressing social disadvantage.
Previously, Belinda was the Chancellor of the University of Sydney from 2013 to 2024, and chaired Thales Australia, QBE Insurance Group and Future Generation Global Investment Company. Her board experience includes serving as non-executive director of Telstra Corporation, Coles Myer, Energy Australia, AGL Energy, TAB, Snowy Hydro Trading, Sydney Water, Crane Group and St Vincent’s Health Australia. She also held executive positions as an Executive Director at Macquarie Group, Vice President at Citibank and a Senior Manager at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).
Belinda holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is a former president of Chief Executive Women and is involved in her family's charitable trust.
Non-Executive Director. Chair of Quality and Social Purpose Committee, Member of Safety, Health and Wellbeing Committee
M.Ed
Appointed 15 December 2015
June McLoughlin is Principal Advisor of Our Place, a Colman Foundation Initiative. June has extensive experience in both policy and service development, research and practice in the early childhood, family support and children’s services fields, which has given her a broad and deep understanding of issues relevant to the needs of parents and their children. June has managed many state and national projects designed to refocus early years services to provide more integrated support for families with young children with a particular interest in vulnerable children.
In 2023, June became a Member in the Order of Australia for significant service to child advocacy and early learning.
Non-Executive Director. Member of Quality and Social Purpose Committee, Member of Safety, Health and Wellbeing Committee.
AM BA Syd., MA Macq., PhD Syd., FASSA
Appointed 17 September 2025
Professor Deb Brennan is one of Australia’s leading researchers in comparative social policy and gender and politics. She co-led the Productivity Commission’s Inquiry into Australia’s early childhood education and care system as an Associate Commissioner and is recognised internationally for her work in this field.
Deb has held visiting positions at the London School of Economics, Oxford University, Trinity College Dublin and the University of Melbourne. She is the author of The Politics of Australian Child Care, Caring for Australia’s Children, and Lifting our Game. She is a former President of the Australian Political Science Association, a founding member of the Work + Family Policy Roundtable and has served on the boards of the Australian Council of Social Service, the Centre for Children and Young People and Community Child Care NSW. She is a Director of the Care Economy Collaborative Research Centre.
For many decades, Deb has worked to promote high quality early childhood education and care, paid parental leave and other policies that support families and children. She has collaborated with researchers and advised governments and community groups in the UK, Canada and New Zealand. A long-standing supporter of the not-for-profit sector, Deb was elected as the Inaugural Convenor of the National Association of Community Based Children's Services in 1982. She was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2022 in recognition of significant service to social policy research, gender equity and tertiary education.
Non-Executive Director. Member of Quality and Social Purpose Committee, Member of Safety, Health and Wellbeing Committee
Appointed 17 September 2025
Mark Woodland is an Australian technology entrepreneur, business executive, and retired Australian Army NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer). He brings valuable early learning experience as a previous co-founder of an early learning business and as a founder of a childcare management platform that developed innovative tools to streamline daily operations and make childcare services more efficient and manageable.
Mark is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Kismet, an AI-powered healthcare platform dedicated to simplifying access to care for people living with disabilities and aging Australians. With a background in education, he has built and scaled multiple purpose-driven companies by blending technology, empathy and relentless execution.
Known for his bold thinking and strong operational discipline, Mark is passionate about challenging broken systems and designing solutions that deliver real-world impact. At Kismet, he is leading the effort to modernise the healthcare experience – replacing paperwork, inefficiency, and fragmentation with intelligence, automation, and a human touch.
He is also an advisor to EduGrowth, Australia’s Ed Tech Hub, which supports businesses to grow and scale.
“What Goodstart’s founders, board and CEO have achieved after purchasing the failed ABC Learning business empire some nine years ago is nothing short of extraordinary. Their shared belief and conviction about early learning in the first five years, and its impact on lifelong educational and social outcomes has propelled their journey from day one. Goodstart is a story of what’s possible with entrepreneurism, and a strong vision closely tied to strong corporate governance.
With significant founding debt repaid ahead of schedule, Goodstart has become a successful billion dollar for purpose organisation, a leading early learning provider and Australia’s largest social enterprise. Many lessons can be taken from Goodstart. Their vision has remained constant, however their ability to continually adapt and refine its strategic direction to thrive, despite the most competitive sector conditions, is testament to building a solid foundation built on leadership, governance and accountability.”
– John Atkin FAICD, Chair, Australian Institute of Company Directors
