Ownership is Key, says Nundah Co-op

11 September 2014

Co-ordinator of Nundah Community Enterprises Cooperative (NCEC), Richard Warner, has written an opinion piece for Pro Bono News, saying that ownership is key in addressing root causes and growing opportunities for the deeply excluded. The co-operative provides meaningful employment for people with intellectual disabilities and mental health issues.

Nundah Co-operative provided consultation for the Public Service Mutuals White Paper and featured as a case study.

Australia’s so called ‘excluded people’ face multiple barriers to inclusion. They are beset with the challenges of the poor or no housing, histories of abuse and neglect, sub-standard health, addictions, and families where no-one has worked in a generation.

Engagement with the market where it occurs, is often in the role of a consumer of goods (usually poor ones) or as a recipient of public services.

Buckets of public and philanthropic monies are spent on important services to address the worst effects of exclusion – but its causes seem depressingly out of reach. What does it take to address root causes and grow opportunities for the deeply excluded? Our experience would suggest that ownership is a key.

Read the full piece at Pro Bono News, Entrepreneurs, Co-ops and the Excluded: Ownership is Key, 11 Sep