MACSEYE (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Early Years Education)

What MACSEYE (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Early Years Education) does

MACSEYE is the dedicated early childhood education and school-aged care subsidiary of Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS), established in 2023 and headquartered at the Catholic Leadership Centre in East Melbourne, Victoria. The organisation delivers two core service lines across the Melbourne Archdiocese: Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) — before school, after school, and holiday programs for children from Prep to Grade 6 — and sessional kindergarten programs for 3 and 4 year olds, co-located at Catholic primary schools. As of the most recent reporting, MACSEYE operates 24 OSHC services and 15 kindergarten locations across the MACS network, with services described as gradually rolling out across the broader MACS school footprint. The customer-facing technology layer is the third-party Xplor Home App, which handles parent bookings, payments, and communications.

The business model is a hybrid of fee-for-service and government-funded revenue. OSHC fees are charged to families on a per-session basis (with recurring and flexible booking tiers), typically $21-$44 per session before Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is applied; the Australian Government's CCS can reduce out-of-pocket costs by up to 90% for eligible families. Kindergarten is provided free of charge to families under the Victorian Government's Free Kinder initiative, which funds 15 hours per week for 3 and 4 year olds. MACSEYE serves a primarily Catholic-school-affiliated family base, with explicit priority of access provisions for children at risk of disadvantage, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and children from refugee or asylum-seeker backgrounds. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer through the MACS school network, the MACSEYE website, social media channels (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook), and direct enrollment via phone and online forms.

MACSEYE is governed by a Board chaired by Gerard Dalbosco (former EY Oceania Managing Partner), with Dr Edward Simons serving as Executive Director of MACS and Heather Finlayson as MACSEYE Managing Director. The organisation employs 56 staff and holds no external investors, no funding rounds, and no M&A activity. The operating geography is exclusively Victoria, Australia, with no disclosed international expansion. The core competitive positioning rests on exclusive co-located access to the MACS primary school network, values-based pedagogy grounded in Catholic social teaching, and full integration of kindergarten, OSHC, and primary schooling into a single family journey.

Name

MACSEYE (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Early Years Education)

Legal name

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Early Years Education

Website

https://macseye.vic.edu.au

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

MACSEYE is the early childhood education and school-aged care subsidiary of Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, delivering kindergarten programs for 3-4 year olds and before, after, and holiday school care across 24 OSHC services and 15 kindergarten sites co-located at Catholic primary schools in Victoria, Australia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early Childhood Education and Care

NAICS

Child Care Services (62441), Elementary and Secondary Schools (611110), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Preschool Programs within Childcare Centers (EDACABAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Preschool Programs within Private K–12 Schools (EDACABAM), Extended Day Programs at Preschools & Childcare Centers (EDACAHAB)

Keywords

• Early childhood education
• Outside school hours care
• Kindergarten programs
• Before after school care
• Childcare services

Headquarters

HQ city

East Melbourne

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Others, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) Fees: Fee-for-service model for before school, after school, and holiday care programs. Families pay either full fees or subsidized fees after Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is applied. Fees vary by location and booking type (recurring vs flexible).
2. Government-Funded Kindergarten: MACSEYE participates in the Victorian Government's Free Kinder initiative, providing 15 hours per week of free kindergarten for both 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds. This is funded by the Victorian Government.
3. Child Care Subsidy (CCS): Australian Government subsidy that reduces out-of-pocket costs for eligible families by up to 90%. Subsidy amounts depend on combined family income, provider hourly rates, number and ages of children, and parent activity levels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

MACSEYE provides Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) and kindergarten programs for children in the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) network. OSHC includes before school, after school, and holiday programs for Prep to Grade 6 children, while kindergarten programs offer 15 hours per week of free, government-funded sessional education for 3 and 4 year olds. Services are delivered through purpose-built Children's Hubs co-located with Catholic primary schools, managed via the Xplor Home app, and grounded in Catholic values and social teaching.

Product overview

MACSEYE provides a dual-service early childhood education portfolio consisting of Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) and Kindergarten Programs. OSHC includes before school care, after school care, and holiday programs operating at Catholic schools across Melbourne for children from Prep to Grade 6. Kindergarten Programs offer free 3 and 4-year-old sessional programs funded by the Victorian Government, delivered through purpose-built Children's Hubs co-located with Catholic primary schools. The Xplor Home App serves as the customer-facing digital interface for booking management and communication across both service lines.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) Before and after school care services providing safe, inclusive, and fun environments where children from Prep to Grade 6 can explore, play, and connect. Includes before school care, after school care, and holiday programs, delivered at 24 co-located Catholic primary schools across Melbourne.
• Kindergarten Programs Sessional kindergarten programs for 3 and 4 year olds offering 15 hours per week of free kindergarten funded by the Victorian Government's Free Kinder initiative. Programs are play-based, led by qualified kindergarten teachers, and aligned with the My Time, Our Place framework.
• Holiday Program School holiday care program offering excursions, activities, cookie decorating, sports challenges, dance parties, and play opportunities for primary school children during school breaks.

Quantifiable outcome

• Free kindergarten available for all 3 and 4 year old children (15 hours/week funded by Victorian Government)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMACSEYE is a subsidiary of Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, established to provide early childhood education and school-aged care programs. MACSEYE is the preferred OSHC provider for all MACS schools, with services integrated into the Catholic school network. MACSEYE operates under the governance of the MACS Board and Archbishop Peter A Comensoli's endorsement.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• TheirCare: Australian specialist OSHC provider operating before-school, after-school, and holiday programs at primary schools nationwide. Most directly comparable to MACSEYE on the OSHC-only segment, including the school-site co-location model and per-school contracting approach.
• Camp Australia: Australia's largest dedicated OSHC and holiday-program provider, delivering before-school, after-school, and vacation care at hundreds of primary schools. Directly comparable on the OSHC operating model, school-site contracting, and government-subsidy billing approach.
• Goodstart Early Learning: Australia's largest not-for-profit early childhood education provider, operating long day care, kindergarten, and OSHC services nationwide. Directly comparable to MACSEYE on ECEC service model, with overlapping leadership lineage (MACSEYE's Managing Director Heather Finlayson was formerly Group General Manager at Goodstart).
• Only About Children (OAC): Private for-profit early childhood education and care operator offering long day care, kindergarten, and OSHC at campus sites across NSW, VIC, and QLD. Comparable to MACSEYE on the integrated ECEC and OSHC service mix at purpose-built campus sites.
• Y Kinders (Yarra Valley Grammar / Y Victoria): Operates kindergarten and OSHC services co-located with primary schools in Victoria and other states, with a values-driven not-for-profit structure similar to MACSEYE. Comparable on integrated kindergarten + OSHC school-site delivery and Victorian state funding alignment.
• Affinity Education: ASX-listed operator of early learning centres across Australia, providing long day care and kindergarten programs. Comparable to MACSEYE on multi-site ECEC operations, government subsidy reliance, and standardized curriculum/quality frameworks.

Regional players

• KU Children's Services: Large NSW-based not-for-profit provider of preschool, long day care, and OSHC services. Comparable on not-for-profit ECEC governance and kindergarten delivery model, though concentrated in NSW rather than Victoria.
• C&K (Creche and Kindergarten Association): Queensland-based community-focused not-for-profit kindergarten and OSHC provider. Comparable as a values-driven, faith/education-aligned ECEC operator, though operating in a different state geography from MACSEYE.

Broad incumbents

• G8 Education: ASX-listed largest Australian for-profit ECEC operator (including OSHC and kindergarten) with hundreds of centres. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the same ECEC category, though commercially more aggressive than MACSEYE's not-for-profit Catholic-affiliated model.
• Busy Bees Australia: Australian arm of a global ECEC operator offering long day care and kindergarten at numerous centres. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the Australian ECEC space, particularly on multi-site operations and subsidy-funded kindergarten delivery.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/macseyemelbourne
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/macseye
• Instagraminstagram.com/macseye_melbourne

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MACSEYE (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Early Years Education)