Help lead the next chapter for a 30-year charity empowering 13,000+ children with disability across NSW
- Two Non-Executive Director roles on an experienced, values-led board
- Bring policy, finance or lived-experience expertise to real impact
- NSW-based, ~6-8 hrs/month, unpaid role, expenses reimbursed
The organisation
Founded almost 30 years ago by eight parents whose children attended an early intervention program at Macquarie University, Lifestart Disability Services has grown from a single classroom into one of NSW’s most trusted providers of therapy, early childhood support and inclusion services for children and young people with disability and developmental delay.
Today, Lifestart supports more than 13,000 children, young people and families each year across eight locations in New South Wales, with a team of more than 180 staff including allied health professionals and early childhood educators. Lifestart is a registered NDIS provider and an official NDIS Partner in the Community, delivering tailored, strengths-based therapy, early childhood support, school and childcare partnerships, and inclusion training – always in partnership with families and communities.
Under CEO Birgitte Maibom, Lifestart has spent the past year rebuilding a confident, positive and connected culture, regaining its position as a trusted, thought-leading provider while remaining financially stable. Having just signed off a new five-year strategy, Lifestart is entering a pivotal next chapter – broadening its client base, deepening its service offering and positioning itself for significant growth, so that even more children, young people and families can benefit from its support.
The role
Lifestart’s Board is undertaking succession planning and capability renewal, and is seeking two Non-Executive Directors to help govern effectively through this next phase.
The Board comprises seven positions (with capacity for up to nine), supported by three sub-committees – Audit and Finance, Nominations, and Strategy and Risk. Directors serve three-year terms, renewable for up to three terms.
Priority capabilities – the Board is seeking complementary appointments and candidates are not expected to hold all priority capabilities, but should bring depth in one or more of the following:
- NDIS reform, disability policy, government commissioning and sector positioning
- Financial sustainability, service economics and strategic resilience governance
- Lived experience of disability and/or developmental delay, directly or as a parent or carer, combined with board-level governance maturity
Directors are expected to bring sound governance judgement, financial literacy and risk awareness, integrity and independence. Lifestart is particularly interested in people who bring fresh thinking and emotional intelligence—who can challenge respectfully, balance empathy with accountability, and contribute strategic and commercial insight while maintaining clear governance boundaries. Prior Board experience is valued; equivalent governance, executive, advisory or community leadership experience will also be considered.
Lifestart welcomes expressions of interest from candidates with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, including people with lived experience of disability, family and carer experience, First Nations people, culturally and linguistically diverse candidates, and people with experience across metropolitan, regional or community settings. Candidates are preferably NSW-based, given the Board’s in-person meetings and events are held in and around Sydney.
To apply
- People for Purpose is partnering with Lifestart Disability Services to lead the search for these roles.
- To view the board pack for this opportunity, please copy and paste the following link into your browser: https://shorturl.at/bQjJ1
- To review Lifestart Disability Services annual reports and financial statements, please visit their website at https://www.lifestart.org.au/ and ACNC profile at https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities/0470c096-39af-e811-a962-000d3ad24a0d/profile.
- Once you have absorbed this information and completed your own research, if you have specific questions, please call us on 0468 625 252 or email [email protected]
- Your application will include your CV, as well as a cover letter outlining how your skills and experience align to this opportunity and why you are interested in joining Lifestart Disability Services.
A considered cover letter will be an important part of your application.
Applications close at 5pm (AEDT) on Thursday, 15 October 2026.