Restacking the Odds for more communities

Published

Tuesday, May 20, 2025 - 10:37 AM

Restacking the Odds (RSTO) has partnered with the Minderoo Foundation to scale nationally.

Minderoo Foundation will provide $8,550,000 over three years to help RSTO place data, lead indicators and tools for action into the hands of frontline early childhood service providers in communities across Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia.

This new investment in empowering local communities is in addition to the existing RSTO implementation across Victoria, South Australia, NSW and Queensland.

Over the next three years, RSTO will:

• work with early years service providers and local communities to develop the skills to collect, understand and use evidence-informed lead indicators to improve services to better meet the needs of communities
• advocate for the collection and use of lead indicators across the early years’ service system.

The partnership will contribute to Minderoo Foundation’s vision to see all children in Australia reach their full potential in thriving communities. Part of this vision is to improve child and family supports by ensuring that existing service ecosystems meet the needs of communities.

‘Minderoo Foundation is excited to be a part of the Restacking the Odds project. We know that to achieve our vision of a fair future where all children reach their potential in thriving communities, those same communities must have access to and support to understand their data. We also know that community-driven solutions are often the most effective and sustainable solutions and Restacking empowers local people with the information they need to deliver locally relevant and responsive services for children and their families.’

– Penny Dakin, Communities Executive Director, Minderoo Foundation 

Minderoo Foundation’s commitment to redressing inequities for children and families is a critical addition to the existing network of RSTO partners.

Minderoo joins a unique collaboration between a research organisation (the Centre for Community Child Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute), a social enterprise focused on system change (Social Ventures Australia), and an international consulting firm (Bain & Company).

Together, RSTO will continue to co-design and implement its model at a community level to ensure that children and families can and do access high-quality, evidence-informed services where and when they need them.

‘It’s exciting to see what’s possible for equitable early childhood development when we bring data, capability and resourcing to community effort at scale. Restacking the Odds is enabling the local “stack” of services to be delivered with the quality and reach needed for impact that goes beyond single program silver bullet thinking. Minderoo will take Restacking from good to great… benefitting children, families and communities across Australia.’

– Professor Sharon Goldfeld AM, Director, Centre for Community Child Health

‘This partnership marks a major step forward for Restacking the Odds. With Minderoo Foundation’s support, we’re expanding our reach to more communities - helping local services use timely evidence-based data to drive improvement and ensure every child has access to the support they need to thrive. It’s about building systems that are responsive, equitable, and shaped by communities themselves.’

– Olivia Hilton, General Manager, RSTO

For more information, visit the RSTO website (www.rsto.org.au) or reach out to Olivia Hilton, RSTO General Manager ([email protected]).