Co-op and mutual legislation alert

21 August 2025

The BCCM welcomes the passage of the Associations and Co-operatives Legislation Amendment Act 2025 by the Western Australian Parliament.

The Act amends the Co-operatives Act 2009 (WA) to ensure Western Australian co-ops can run their AGMs and other processes digitally. The inability to run fully online general meetings has added costs and hindered democratic engagement in WA co-ops with geographically dispersed memberships.

BCCM CEO Melina Morrison said “This is a vital reform for Western Australian co-ops. And while we are having a national conversation about how to boost productivity, simple regulatory reforms are making the co-op structure more attractive for small business collaboration and scaling.”

The BCCM has been pleased to work with our WA members, including Co-ops WA, to advance this reform with Consumer Protection WA and the Minister for Commerce, the Hon Dr Tony Buti MLA, and his predecessor, the Hon Sue Ellery MLC. 

This legislative reform aligns with the goals of the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives 2025 for the co-operative movement and governments to work together to improve the regulatory environment for co-operatives.

For more information, visit the WA Government’s media statement.