The Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) has welcomed the Australian Labor Party’s historic platform commitment to support the co-operative and mutual sector’s ambition to double in size, the organisation says in a statement.
The commitment reflects years of sustained advocacy by BCCM for greater recognition of business model diversity in national economic policy, and supports efforts to address barriers to growth and create a more level playing field with other corporate structures.
The new platform wording states:
Growing the Co-operative and Mutual Sector
Labor will support diverse business models which bring innovation, new products, competition and quality jobs to the market. These will include co-operatives, mutuals, credit unions and customer-owned banks. We recognise and support the cooperative and mutual sector’s ambition to double in size and will work to address barriers it faces to ensure an equal playing field with other corporate structures.
The commitment is a significant policy milestone for Australia’s co-operative and mutual sector. It recognises the contribution of member-owned businesses to competition, quality jobs, innovation and economic participation, and gives policymakers a stronger foundation for reform.
BCCM CEO Melina Morrison said the focus would now be on working with government and policymakers to help co-operatives and mutuals reach their potential across key parts of the Australian economy.
“Even modest reform from the Federal Government could unleash potential across industries such as agriculture, finance and care,” Ms Morrison said.
“There is now a significant opportunity to strengthen the role of co-operatives and mutuals in our economy. A legislative environment for co-operatives and mutuals to prosper and grow allows them to work harder in the interests of their members, markets and communities around the nation.”
Australia has 1,810 co-operatives and mutuals, with combined turnover of more than $55 billion, more than 37 million active memberships and direct employment of around 95,000 people. The sector also supports nearly 367,000 small business members, showing that co-operatives and mutuals are an established part of Australia’s economic infrastructure.
Targeted policy reform has already shown what is possible. Mutual Capital Instruments (MCIs) reform has helped unlock nearly $700 million in new capital, demonstrating how practical changes to policy settings can release latent investment and growth potential in member-owned businesses.
The Australian commitment comes amid growing international momentum. In the United Kingdom, Andy Burnham has made history becoming the UK’s first Labour and Co-operative Prime Minister, while the UK Labour Government has committed to doubling the size of its co-operative and mutual economy, which is worth nearly £180 billion and employs 1.5 million people.
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Historic Labor platform commitment backs doubling of co-operative and mutual sector (Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals)