Alison Covington AM, Founder and Managing Director of Good360 Australia, on Matching Spare with Need and Building a National Circle of Good Through Technology and Purpose

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Alison Covington AM, Founder and Managing Director of Good360 Australia, shares the powerful story of how her organization is “matching spare with need”—connecting businesses with surplus brand-new goods to charities and disadvantaged schools across the country.

Through a sophisticated tech platform and logistics model, Good360 creates what Covington calls “a circle of good,” ensuring that valuable products such as clothing, toiletries, household items, and furniture reach those who need them most, rather than sitting idle or being destroyed.

This isn’t about food waste—an area that has gained considerable public awareness—but about all the other categories of goods essential to daily life and human dignity.

Most consumers don’t realize the extent to which businesses, even after offering steep discounts, are left with enormous quantities of unsold products. At the same time, community organizations face constant shortages.

Good360 bridges this gap by allowing thousands of registered nonprofits to search online 24/7 for the goods they need, in the quantities they require, with options for delivery, click-and-collect, or in-store pickup.

Covington explains that while the user experience feels seamless, the technology behind the platform is extensive and custom-built, designed to manage the enormous logistical complexity of moving goods across Australia’s vast geography while minimizing environmental impact.

Matching goods as close as possible to where they’re needed helps reduce unnecessary “environmental kilometres” and maximizes the efficiency of each donation.

One standout example is Good360’s long-standing partnership with Big W, a national retailer with over 180 stores. By building a store-based model that connects local charities directly with local inventory, Good360 has enabled more than 700 charities to access high-quality goods.

For Big W, this means a single point of contact replaces hundreds of individual charitable relationships, delivering scale, compliance, and measurable social impact. For communities, it means vital resources—and dignity—reach the people who need them, where they are.

About Alison Covington AM

Alison Covington, AM, brought the 'Good360' charity to Australia, offering businesses a sustainable and community-focused option to redirect their surplus product to help people and our planet. Their mission is to ensure that the excess goods and services businesses produce every year flow to people in need rather than going to waste.

Good360 is Australia's largest online marketplace connecting businesses' unsold brand-new goods to people in need.

Since 2015, over 600 retailers and manufacturers have donated $505 million of brand-new products to Good360. Their network of 4,800 charities and disadvantaged schools Australia-wide orders the goods they need from the Good360 website with the ease of 24/7 access, saving time and precious budget. Thanks to Alison's business model, more than 4.7 million people Australia-wide have been supported, providing dignity and equality.

Good360 has won a swag of awards including 2020 Charity of the Year in the Australian Charity Awards, the 2021 Judges' Choice in The Circle Awards Aus & NZ for their contribution to the circular economy and the 2023 TMRRW Awards, B2B Impact for making a positive environmental and social impact.

In 2021 Alison was awarded Western Sydney Woman of the Year, Western Sydney Community Woman of the Year and NPF Third Sector Awards' CEO of the Year. In 2022 Alison was appointed AM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her significant service to social welfare and sustainability programs. In 2024 Alison was awarded the Jennifer Westacott AO Woman of Western Sydney Award.