2017 CME Database launched

01 November 2017

Co-operative and Mutual Enterprises in Australia

The latest research on Co-operative and Mutual Enterprises (CMEs) in Australia has uncovered hundreds more CMEs at work in the Australian economy.

The full list of CMEs uncovered has been uploaded to an open access database, made available by the Centre for Entrepreneurial Management and Innovation. Check it out.

The database, known as the Australian Co‑operative and Mutual Enterprise Index (ACMEI), started in 2012 with the first national data collection process in 2014.

The ACMEI is a long term research project undertaken by the University of Western Australia to map the size and structure of the CME sector in Australia. Its purpose is to provide a better understanding of these businesses and their contribution to the national economy.

Despite representing some of the largest businesses in their sectors and being found across a widerange of industries, the overall size, structure and contribution of the CME sector in Australia
is relatively poorly understood. This is due to a paucity of reliable data, difficulties in definition and vagueness over which firms should be identified as CMEs.

For this year’s report on the ACMEI, see Mazzarol, T. & Kresling, J. (2017), Australia’s Leading Co-operative and Mutual Enterprises in 2017, CEMI Discussion Paper Series, DP 1701, Centre for Entrepreneurial Management and Innovation.

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