Our Mission
Our mission is to enhance the lives of young people by re-engaging them in education and promoting personal growth through a combination of outdoor challenge, family, community and future focused activities.
Our Values
Our values reflect the Australian Government’s National Strategy for Young Australians to ‘…grow up safe, healthy, happy and resilient and to have the opportunities and skills they need to learn, work, engage in community life and influence decisions that affect them.’
Safe means assessing the risks and making choices to look after the physical and emotional wellbeing of everyone in the Operation Newstart team.
Healthy means being aware of our lifestyle choices, making decisions to be physically active, eat well and nourish our minds.
Happy means cultivating an attitude of gratitude, appreciating others, the environment and ourselves.
Resilient means having a go and persisting even when challenges are not easily overcome.
Program Facilitators
Nick Sack is the program manager of Operation Newstart Geelong and has been with the 
program since November 2015. Prior to commencing with ONG, Nick has spent the past 10 years teaching in Australian and United Kingdom schools, having lived in London for two years during that time. Nick has a background in Physical Education, Outdoor and Environmental Education, Science and Maths.
Nick enjoys being in the outdoors and will try and get active at every opportunity he gets. He is also a lover of all things food related and has been known to take down a number of big meals and food challenges in his day.
Nick is dedicated to helping young people achieve their best, enabling them to realise their dreams and aspirations for the future. Nick lives with his wife Renee and three kids, Billy and Tom and Isabel, and dog Dougie in Belmont.
Philippa Weetman was employed as the Youth Facilitator for Operation Newstart Geelong (ONG) at the beginning of 2018. Prior to commencing with ONG, Philippa studied a Bachelor of Psychology and Youth Work. Philippa has also worked as part of a wellbeing team in a school and as a sports coach at YMCA. Philippa is passionate about empowering young people to make positive life changes by encouraging them to focus on their strengths.
Philippa enjoys spending time with her friends and family. Philippa loves sport and being outdoors, and believes in the importance of maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle.
Community Partners
Operation Newstart Geelong wouldn’t be able to realise its potential without our very generous supporters and our valued partnerships with many individuals, businesses and organisations.
Our program is built on the generosity of individuals and businesses who share their finances, time, facilities and expertise with our young people.
By engaging with Operation Newstart, partners communicate a powerful message that Geelong’s local community values and believes in the capacity of young people to make positive contributions that shape our culture.
If you or your organisation feel inspired to make an impact by partnering with Operation Newstart Geelong please contact Nick or Philippa for more details.
History
Operation Newstart was created in 1997 as a joint initiative between the Department of Education and Victoria Police. The intensive program was developed as a more innovative way to empower young people to help themselves, unlocking them from limiting situations and allowing them to move on to the next positive phase of their secondary school or post-secondary school education.
Operation Newstart Geelong began in 2011 with strong local support. Built on the Operation Newstart model the Geelong program has evolved to address the specific needs of young people in the Geelong community. There have now been 45 groups graduate as part of the Geelong program with over 400 young people participating from 12 local government schools.