News Feeds

Co-operative News

  • SouthEast Housing Co-operative Online
    The SouthEast Housing Co-operative, based in Dandenong, Victoria, has gone online. The co-operative is a leading rental housing co-operative with the mission statement of increasing and providing secure, affordable and environmentally sustainable long term community housing managed by and for low income people and deliver excellent services to improve the quality of housing of residents.
  • Social Enterprise in Australia
    Finding  Australia's Social Enterprise Sector - Final Report has been released by the FASES project - a joint initiative of Social Traders and the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Non-Profit Studies, Queensland University of Technology. FASES is Finding Australia's Social Enterprise Sector.  You can download a summary report and for a full report. 
  • ICA's New Director-General
    The International Co-operative Alliance has named Charles Gould as its new Director-General - replacing Iain Macdonald who has served as Director-General for the past eight years. The ICA has 240 member organisations from 91 countries - representing nearly one billion individuals and providing more than 100 million jobs. For more about the ICA's new Director-General visit http://www.ica.coop
  • CBH Demutualisation Push
    A dissident group within the CBH Group is attempting to reduce the influence of growers on the board of the Western Australia co-operative. The board has rejected the group's proposal. Read more in WA Business News.
  • Co-operatives WA's Spotlight on Co-operatives
    Co-operatives WA has announced an important partnership with three of the State's largest co-operatives and the University of Western Australia - with funding from the Federal Government. The research program will study - Sustainable Cooperative Enterprise: An Investigation into the Factors Influencing the Sustainability and Competitiveness of Co-operative Enterprises. For more visit the Co-operatives Australia website.
  • National Community Housing Standards and Co-operatives
    The third edition of the National Community Housing Standards Manual (May 2010) has just been released in Australia - developed by JPX Consulting Pty Ltd and published by Housing NSW. This edition replaces the second edition published in 2003.  The third edition takes account of the seven international principles of co-operation adopted by the International Co-operative Alliance to guide the formation and management of co-operatives. The Manual reproduces the seven principles. The manual can be downloaded from the website of the Community Housing Federation of Australia.
  • Blue Mountains 30th
    The Blue Mountains Food Co-op Ltd in Katoomba, New South Wales,  is celebrating its 3oth birthday in 2010. The co-operative is Australia's largest organic food co-operative. The co-operative's website: www.bluemtnsfood.asn.au  The email address is: bmfoodcoop@exemail.com.au

Co-operative Health

  • USA Health Co-operative Proposal
    The USA?Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Max Baucus, has just released his proposal for meaningful health reform legislation. in a paper called Call to Action, the Senator calls for the establishment of health co-operatives.

  • Health Insurance Co-operatives in the USA
    Five health insurance co-operatives already exist in the USA - Group Health Cooperative of Washington, HealthPartners, Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire, First Plan and Group Health Cooperative of Southern Wisconsin. They have a collective membership of over two million people.

  • NCBA Supports Health Co-operatives
    The USA National Cooperative Business Association is supporting health co-operatives as the Democratic Congress is considering co-operatives as an alternative to a public health insurer. The original idea is for a public insurer to provide competition in the health insurance market. Republican opponents claim that it will be unfair competition and that public health insurance is socialism.

  • Co-operatives and Health Care Reform in the USA
    As in Australia, the USA is debating healthcare reform and President Obama has made this a high priority. The Obama Plan includes a government-run insurance program and it is this that has divided USA lawmakers.

    A bipartisan group of senators, Democrat and Republican, are working on an alteranative plan. The alternative plan involves a system of co-operatives - saying that this alternative offers more choice without increasing the role of government in healthcare.

    Democrat Kent Conrad is proposing that insurance co-operatives are controlled by consumers rather than the government or profit driven companies. Under his proposal, the USA federal government would provide seed money to help set up co-operatives.

    Source:,Levey, Noam N and Hook, Janet "The centrist alternative on healthcare::Cooperatives" in the Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2009.

  • A Healthier Future Without Co-operation?
    The Australian Government has just released A Healthier Future For All Australians - Final Report of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission. It is an important report that neglects an important area - the co-operative option.? The Commission argues "our reform agenda urges action to: tackle the major access and equity issues that affect people now; redesign our health system to meet emerging challenges; and create an agile, responsive and self-improving health system for future generations."