Role: Child Protection Specialist

Location: Australia-wide

Employment Type: Full-time, Permanent

Help protect children. Support families. Strengthen safeguarding across Australia!

At Goodstart, our purpose is simple and powerful - to give every child the best possible start in life. With 16,500 Goodstarters across nearly 700 centres, we are Australia’s largest provider of early learning and care, and everything we do is anchored in child safety, wellbeing and inclusion

Our Role:

As a Child Protection Specialist, you’ll provide expert, child-centred case management and specialist support for safeguarding concerns across our national network.

You’ll work closely with centre teams, leaders, and external agencies to ensure children are safe, supported, and able to continue accessing early learning. This role plays a critical part in strengthening Goodstart’s safeguarding practices and ensuring compliance with Child Safe frameworks and legislation.

Your Impact:

• Lead and support the management of complex child protection cases, ensuring timely, child-centred responses
• Provide expert advice and coaching to centres on safeguarding concerns, reporting obligations, and risk management
• Strengthen capability across teams to identify, respond to, and prevent harm using the “look, do, tell” framework
• Partner with internal stakeholders to embed strong safeguarding practices across the organisation
• Liaise with external agencies, regulators, and authorities to ensure compliance with legislative requirements
• Analyse safeguarding data, identify trends, and drive continuous improvement initiatives
• Support children, families, and educators through sensitive and complex situations with empathy and professionalism

What Goodstart can offer you:

• Flexible work arrangements giving you choice about when and how work will be done in order to better manage your work and non-work needs
• Not-For-Profit Salary Packaging benefits which reduce your taxable income to increase take home pay
• Access to discounted childcare (up to 15%)
• Fitness Passport - access to gyms and pools for you and your family at a heavily discounted price
• Discounted health care and access to employee wellbeing program with BUPA
• Exclusive discounts on travel, gym memberships, Apple and Dell products, and more.
• Free annual flu shot (optional)
• Option to purchase extra leave for even greater work life balance  
• First Nations Support and Cultural Leave
• Work for a company that has an aspiration to be globally recognised for early years practice and learning outcomes
• Gain significant investment in your growth and development with support, tools, training and experiences that will truly enhance the progress and outcomes for children in their earliest years.

You’ll bring to the table:

• Tertiary qualification in Social Work, Human Services, Psychology, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
• Strong experience in child protection, case management, and safeguarding investigations
• In-depth knowledge of child protection legislation across Australian states and territories
• Proven ability to manage complex and sensitive cases with sound judgement and professionalism
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to coach, influence, and support teams
• Experience working with external agencies and regulatory bodies
• A data-informed approach, with the ability to analyse trends and inform decision-making
• Commitment to child safety, inclusion, and culturally responsive practice
• Working with Children Check (relevant to state or territory)

How to apply

Click ‘Apply Now’ and submit your application.

We review applications as they are submitted. We encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible for your best chance to progress to the next stage of the process.

Have a question? Contact our Talent Acquisition Team via email recruitment@goodstart.org.au

At Goodstart we are deeply committed to Reconciliation and encourage Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people to apply. For further information and support email deadlycareers@goodstart.org.au

If you are a placement agency or external recruiter, please refrain from submitting resumes to Goodstart unless you have a signed staffing agency agreement with us. Goodstart will not be responsible for or pay any placement fees for candidates submitted by agencies that are not approved suppliers. Any resumes received from agencies or external recruiters without an agreement will be reviewed by Goodstart and may be shared with our internal recruiting team for their reference.

Supporting our people and protecting our children

We’re an equal opportunity employer that is proud of our inclusive and diverse work environment. We know that Goodstarters from diverse cultures, backgrounds and experiences strengthen our teams and help us grow. We’re also deeply committed to Reconciliation and creating an environment where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People feel a strong sense of belonging and connection.

Safety is our priority and we will take any action necessary to ensure that all children can feel safe and be safe, and are safeguarded from abuse, neglect and harm. As a Child Safe Organisation, all of our candidates must have or obtain a valid working with children check.