Australian peak participates in co-op ministers’ conference – Jordan

29 April 2024

Statement of Michael Pilbrow on behalf of the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals at the 11th Asia Pacific Cooperative Ministers’ Conference, Dead Sea, Jordan, 28-30 April 2024

Ministers, Co-operators,

On behalf of the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals in Australia (the BCCM), the national apex for co-operatives active in all industry sectors in Australia, I acknowledge H.E. Khaled Mousa Shehadeh Alhuneafat, Minister of Agriculture of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and all other Ministers and government representatives participating in this conference.

I thank the Jordan Co-operative Corporation and the International Co-operative Alliance Asia-Pacific for hosting the conference.

In Australia, one of the most important recent co-operative policy developments is the partnership between the Australian Government and the co-operative movement to grow the co-operative economy.

This has been through two government funded partnerships.

The first was to increase Australian farmers’ access to advice and information on forming co-operatives for growing export markets, supply chain control and value-added processing.

This partnership is called the Co-op Farming Program.

The second federally funded partnership is to help regional, remote, and rural communities to access education and advice on setting up co-operatives to help deliver care at the community level (such as aged care, disability care, primary health care and other forms of care).

This partnership is called the Care Together Program.

This program commenced in 2023 and runs for 2.5 years. It is being delivered by the BCCM on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

Both the agriculture and care programs have stand-alone websites for more information.

These programs were funded at the request of the co-operative movement, through the BCCM, because there is policy recognition that co-operative models can address some of the most compelling challenges of our times such as remote workforce, productivity, access to services, cost of living inflation and supply chain vulnerability.

By partnering with the BCCM, government is unlocking co-operative development methods, networks and expertise to grow the presence and awareness of co-operatives in the economy.

These projects operate in different parts of Australia and regional areas where other business models focused on profit maximisation are not proving to be viable.

Without provision of essential services such as social care in the regions, the associated agricultural production, processing and exports (often through co-operatives), will be at risk.

The Care Together Program not only supports individual projects but also seeks to strengthen co-operative networks and collaboration within, and across, industries.

We know from international experience that Co-operation among Co-operatives is the way that our movement can achieve scale and change whole sectors of the economy to operate sustainably in the interests of ordinary people.

The close engagement with the Australian Government is facilitating improved policy awareness of where legal and regulatory barriers are holding co-operatives back.

This is still a work in progress, but one we are optimistic about.

The BCCM stands ready to exchange information with co-operators and government representatives on the Co-op Farming Program and Care Together Program and any similar developments in your countries during this conference and beyond.

Finally, with the International Year of Co-operatives fast approaching, the BCCM is preparing for celebrations of the co-operative model in Australia.

We are advocating for all levels of government in Australia to heed the United Nation’s call to celebrate the contribution of co-operatives to the Sustainable Development Goals, to review legislation and regulation that impacts co-operatives, and to strengthen the development ecosystem for co-operatives.