The Hon. Nick Staikos' speech at the BCCM Australian Unity Victorian Icons luncheon

25 June 2025

On Tuesday, 24 June 2025, over 80 policymakers, business leaders and co-operative champions attended The BCCM and Australian Unity Icons Luncheon, hosted by Australian Unity. The luncheon marked the launch of the International Year of Cooperatives 2025 (IYC 2025) in Victoria.

Among the key speakers was The Hon. Nick Staikos, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Minister for Local Government, who highlighted the Victorian Government’s support for co-operatives through the launch of a new online registration and compliance portal, MyCAV, designed to streamline regulatory processes and reduce red tape for co-operatives in the state.

The Hon Nick Staikos

Read a transcript of the Hon. Nick Staikos’ speech

Thank you very much, Rohan, for that warm welcome and your Acknowledgement of Country, but also that fascinating history. And thank you for inviting me today.

I’ve been Minister for Consumer Affairs for six months—exactly six months—and it is a portfolio with a long list of stakeholders because we are the regulator for a lot of different areas. The Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals and Australian Unity are two stakeholders who I’m getting to meet today for the first time, but it won’t be the last time because you are key stakeholders, and I’d like to thank you for the invitation to be with you today here at the Icons Luncheon to help celebrate the United Nations Year of Cooperatives.

It is a pleasure to be here today, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you all. I recognise BCCM’s ongoing efforts in this sector and advocacy for important issues for co-operatives and mutuals.

The theme of the International Year of Cooperatives, “Cooperatives Build a Better World,” underscores the enduring global impact co-operatives have on communities and the economy. Co-operatives are an important type of legal structure, as they are democratic organisations owned and controlled by their members for a common benefit. They are traditionally based on values of self-help, self-responsibility, equality, and solidarity.

Members of a co-operative can benefit from economies of scale through the combined purchasing, distribution, or marketing power or influence of the group. They share in the group’s investment and operational risks and losses, as well as its benefits.

According to BCCM’s National Mutual Economy Report of 2024, more than 1,400 Australian enterprises and organisations are currently registered as co-operatives. They have at least 315,000 individual and small business members, a $10 billion turnover, $7.2 billion in assets, and over 18,000 employees.

One of the key objectives of this year’s theme is a call for governments to create an enabling environment for co-operatives. As Victoria’s Consumer Affairs Minister, I have responsibilities for the regulations of co-operatives in our state. The Victorian Government recognises the important role that co-operatives play in our state’s economic success, and I’m delighted to announce that we have just completed a major upgrade to the systems that we use to support your registration and regulatory interactions with us.

On 27 May, Consumer Affairs Victoria’s online portal, MyCAV, went live for co-operatives in Victoria. This has enabled co-operatives in Victoria to manage and maintain their registration requirements and related transactions online, ditching unnecessary red tape and time.

The increasing digitisation of economies has highlighted the importance of digital transformation for government and how it can help improve the effectiveness, efficiency and accessibility of government services. Citizens, businesses and organisations expect government information and services to be readily available online, easy to find and understand.

This upgrade for co-operatives has been enabled by the Victorian Government’s investment and fast-tracking digital improvements by the Regulation Reform Incentive Fund and subsequently the Business Acceleration Fund. These initiatives have provided funding for regulatory improvements that remove user pain points and streamline processes. This is making licensing and registration interactions quicker and easier for a range of businesses, professionals and community groups. It is also enhancing the strength and cost-effectiveness of key transactions, compliance and monitoring activities.

We sent direct communications to all registered co-operatives in Victoria, both before and just after the launch of MyCAV, to announce the new system, explain the benefits, and provide instructions on setting up a new online account. As of 9 June 2025, only two weeks after Go Live, 497 registered co-operatives in Victoria had transitioned to MyCAV.

The new system enables users to log in from multiple types of devices and allows co-operatives to lodge and pay for transactions via MyCAV without the need to use time-consuming paper forms. It also creates a more accessible and user-friendly experience for co-operatives, with convenient 24/7 access and a quicker turnaround on processing time for applications and other transactions.

Co-operatives in Victoria can now lodge annual reports, view information that CAB holds about their own organisation, change office holders, and seek approval for applications and change of rules—all online. Co-operative secretaries can now also download free additional copies of the certificate of registration through their MyCAV account.

With greater visibility of their own data and some 18 new transactions now able to be lodged online, allowing for quicker processing and decisions, co-operatives can get on with focusing more on their core business and spend less time on administrative functions. Co-operatives in Victoria have already started using the new system, perhaps including many of you here today.

In the first two weeks since MyCAV was launched for co-operatives, over 50 new MyCAV accounts have been created by secretaries of co-operatives, and five annual reports have already been lodged online within the first two weeks, as well as two pre-approval applications and 18 updates of details.

We’re making it easier for co-operatives to comply with their lodgement and reporting obligations, and ultimately this benefits members and the community.

And once again, I’d like to thank BCCM and Australian Unity for inviting me to speak today, and to everyone here today for attending. It’s my first visit. It won’t be my last. I’m looking forward to a very productive relationship over the time that I’m Minister of Consumer Affairs, however long that is.

That is because the consumer affairs portfolio—whether it’s how we deal with the real estate industry, with tenancies, with consumer law, incorporated associations, or with co-operatives—is all about fairness and equity, and fairness and equity for everyone. And that is the principle, as we’ve heard from Rohan, upon which your organisations and your movement was founded. I hope you enjoy the rest of this event. Thanks very much.