Goodstart’s focus on safety, inclusion and quality early learning continues: Annual Report FY25

Celebrating 15 years of operation this year, the Goodstart Early Learning Group, the nation’s largest early learning provider and the largest provider of kindergarten, has navigated a challenging year for the sector while making a near 20% increase in the funding for training and development of its educators and teachers to increase the safety and quality of its 677 centres.

Since 2010 Goodstart, a not for profit, has positively changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and their families, with our team supporting more than 154 million child attendances.

During the financial year, despite uneven demand, localised oversupply and workforce pressures, Goodstart funded a 14% increase in its social impact spending. Goodstart continues to deliver social and economic benefit: with every $1 invested in our social purpose we create a social return of $5 for Australian children, families and communities.

In the last financial year our centre leaders continued their focus on the safety of every child in our care as our highest priority and Goodstart Chair, Paul Robertson, AO, said that the long-overdue government reforms now underway across the sector made the organisation’s focus on its safety culture all the more important.

“We work and invest every day so families can be confident that children are safe, well and thriving in our centres.

“This safety culture underpins our impact. In 2025, we celebrate 15 years as Australia’s largest not-for profit provider of early learning. Our scale continues to reflect the trust families place in us – and the deep responsibility we carry to deliver the highest standards of quality, safety and inclusion.

“With no shareholders or private investors to pay, we reinvest every surplus into children, in our teams and in ensuring that every dollar goes where it matters most. This year, we’ve invested $65.5 million in our social purpose, a significant increase on last financial year,” he said.

CEO Dr Ros Baxter said disciplined decision-making had ensured an almost 20% increase in spending on professional development for Goodstart’s teachers and educators.

“We’re lifting up our 14,500 educators and 2000 teachers with strong skills training and support and that’s good for children and for the quality our centres offer families, as our teams have ensured that 99% of our centres now meet or exceed the NQS.

“Quality early learning can’t be delivered without highly skilled educators and that’s why we invest so heavily in professional development. We know children thrive when they have strong relationships with skilled teachers and educators. We are twice as likely to keep our educators compared with the average for-profit provider.

“At the same time, we are closing the participation gap, with children experiencing vulnerability participating at the same rate as their more advantaged peers. I am very proud to report that on average children (including those experiencing vulnerability) attend 3+ days per week but children at risk of abuse or neglect now attend their Goodstart centre 4 days per week.

“For the past 15 years Goodstart centres across the nation have ensured that children can attend safe, high quality early learning in their community. A child’s future should never be defined by their postcode or their family’s circumstances. So, over the next five years we will remain focused on providing safe, high quality, inclusive early learning.”

Goodstart’s Annual Report is available here.