Our executives

Our CEO has dedicated her career to advancing early intervention and education for all Australia’s children.

Ros 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. 

Peter is an experienced CFO who enjoys working in a "for purpose" environment and is passionate about shaping a stronger future for Goodstart, bringing a strategic focus to financial sustainability, risk and assurance and the longer term success of Goodstart.

Peter is an accomplished finance and commercial leader with a diverse corporate and operational based career across health, aged care, retirement living, not-for-profit, financial services, engineering, construction/projects and mining/energy.  With expertise in finance, commercial operations, funding, procurement, IT, property, and governance, he excels in strategy, delivery and change. Peter's ability to lead high-performing teams, navigate complex change and employ broad financial skills in listed and non-listed entities sets him apart.  Recent roles have included working with a distributed network of services across 400+ locations and developing a deep understanding of diverse operations.  His strategic financial and risk leadership is instrumental in shaping a stronger future for Goodstart, ensuring stability, growth and the ongoing provision of nation-wide high quality early learning. Peter's dedication to excellence drives sustainable success and reinforces Goodstart's vision and purpose.

Myra oversees Goodstart's social impact strategy, policy, measurement, research and evaluation and social impact programs and initiatives such as Goodstart Plus (Goodstart’s approach to integrated services) and the Early Learning Fund. Myra and her team amplify the delivery of Goodstart’s social purpose and impact across the country.

Myra brings significant experience to Goodstart, as a driving force of social policy and reform that has helped transform and improve the quality of life of Australians. She has been the senior social policy advisor to two Australian prime ministers and has worked across early childhood education and care, schools, community services and health policy at state and national levels. Myra’s career began as a teacher in the northern suburbs of Brisbane. She is deeply committed to supporting those Goodstarters working closest with children and is a passionate believer in the power of early learning to transform children’s lives. Myra co-wrote Preschool – Two Years are Better Than One with Dr Stacey Fox at the Mitchell Institute which aimed to help compel Australia to pursue a national commitment to ensuring all three-year-olds have access to high-quality early childhood education by offering a second year of preschool. Myra has also been a Goodstart mum, with her children attending Goodstart Kedron.

Lisa has been with Goodstart since its foundation and, as an Early Childhood Teacher, is passionate about inspiring teams to deliver safe, high quality, inclusive early learning. This underpins her work as Acting Chief Operating Officer, where she leads our Operations team to strengthen outcomes for children, families, and teams while balancing organisational performance.

With more than 25 years of experience in the early childhood sector, Lisa has worked across a range of settings with children from birth to 12 years, as well as adult vocational education, giving her a deep understanding of pedagogy and leadership.

She has held a range of leadership roles within Goodstart, including State Manager for NSW North and the Northern Territory, leading more than 80 centres, and later General Manager, Performance Improvement, with national oversight of operations, strengthening impact and commercial performance across the organisation – but always keeping children central to everything she does.

Lisa is recognised for combining operational excellence with purpose-driven leadership, consistently placing Goodstart’s mission at the centre of her work. She is committed to creating environments where Goodstarters and centres thrive. Lisa is also a Goodstart mum, with her son attending Preschool in one of our centres.

Rebecca Hutchings is a proud Wonnarua woman with more than 20 years of experience across early childhood, schooling, curriculum reform, higher education and public policy. As our Chief First Nations Officer, Rebecca works to drive measurable improvements in First Nations children’s learning, development and wellbeing outcomes within Goodstart centres and beyond.  

Having started her career in early childhood education as an early childhood teacher, Rebecca believes high quality, culturally strong early learning is foundational to Closing the Gap. Her career has been shaped by a deep commitment to creating systems, cultures and opportunities where children, families and communities can thrive, particularly through work that advances equity, cultural integrity and creating better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  

Over the past decade, Rebecca has led complex reform across government and education settings, working at the intersection of strategy, policy, governance and cultural leadership including – securing major investment, leading statewide Aboriginal early childhood reform and embedding Aboriginal priorities into curriculum. At the heart of her leadership is a strong belief in community partnership, cultural authority and the power of shared purpose. She is especially passionate about growing people, creating culturally safe and inclusive workplaces, and supporting teams to do meaningful work that has a real impact in people’s lives.

Cathrine leads initiatives that bring our ambition to be a world leader in early years pedagogy and practice to life, working closely with educators, the sector, academics and national and international thought leaders to translate evidence into everyday practice.

Professor Cathrine Neilsen-Hewett is an internationally regarded educator and researcher in early childhood education, known for leading innovative teaching programs at the University of Wollongong. She is highly respected by governments, industry, philanthropy and the research community for her high quality, field-leading teaching-related research, which continues to influence educational practice and workforce development in Australia and internationally.

Cathrine has made significant contributions to early childhood pedagogy and practice at a national level, including through her membership on the national Early Childhood Development Council. Her expertise spans areas such as children’s self-regulation, child assessment, early childhood pedagogy, trauma-informed practice and the integration of technology in early learning. Her work in these fields has impacted programs and policy, and she has been appointed as an advisor on key projects in Victoria, New South Wales, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Throughout her career, Cathrine has been deeply committed to elevating the professional status of early childhood educators, ensuring they have the pedagogical knowledge and tools needed to support high-quality and inclusive practice.

Natalie excels in maintaining a great balance between organisational requirements and nurturing an exceptional employee experience to support our people to thrive.
 
Natalie leads our people and learning teams which maintain an unwavering focus on ensuring Goodstart provides an inclusive and thriving environment for both Goodstarters and the children we serve. Natalie brings significant HR expertise to Goodstart, with her career spanning across several roles within the Queensland Public Service, including Queensland Treasury and Queensland Audit Office. Prior to joining Goodstart, Natalie served as the Chief People Officer, leading a major HR transformation at Residential Tenancies Authority, where she also held acting positions as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Customer Experience Officer.