Co-operative Farming: May 2022 news

07 June 2022

Podcast: From closed and condemned to thriving co-op

When the town of Sea Lake was left with no local pub, the community took matters into their own hands, renovating a derelict building and opening The Royal as the Sea Lake Hotel Co-operative Limited.

Rural journalist Michael Cavanagh caught up with the co-op’s chair, John Clohesy, and secretary, Alison McClelland. Listen to the podcast to discover why The Royal hotel is such an important part of the Sea Lake community and how their previous experience in running a hardware co-operative helped the community embrace the co-operative model once more. You’ll also hear about how running the Sea Lake Hotel Co-operative has united this small community, given the town a tourism boost and provided locals with a sense of self-agency.

Listen now via our website, Spotify or Apple, or read about how the Sea Lake Hotel Co-operative has given the town’s pub a new lease on life.

Next episode: In our next episode, Michael Cavanagh talks to John Williams, CEO, Summerland Credit Union, about the flood recovery and the big-hearted community in the Northern Rivers region of NSW.

Federal election

The Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals congratulates the Australian Labor Party on its successful election to Federal Government and urges greater collaboration with the sector in a bid to find effective and equitable solutions for the many challenges facing Australian communities.

Have your say

Don’t forget to complete the survey about the co-operative principles being conducted by the International Cooperative Alliance. This is your chance to add to the Australian response.

Celebrating our movement

Join with us on Saturday, 2 July in celebrating the International Day of Cooperatives. It is an important opportunity for all co-operatives and mutuals to communicate the role our businesses play in serving members and the wider community. The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) has announced this year’s theme will be “Cooperatives build a better world”, and we look forward to celebrating this important day with co-operators and mutualists in Australia and around the world.

Co-op farming sector news

Hastings Co-op sends semi-trailer full of donations to Lismore

The impact of investing in co-ops and mutuals

BCCM CEO discusses how to invigorate regional Australia (paywall)

BCCM and CA highlight housing and workforce flood recovery challenges in inquiry submission

Upskill your team in 2022 with BCCM courses

An Introduction to Co-operatives and Mutuals
This accessible and affordable two-hour online induction training has been designed to educate and to inspire people working in the sector to understand more about the unique role and contribution of co-operatives and mutuals. Give your staff a strong start to the year by sending them to our next course on 14 June. Watch the extract of the interview with Simone Tregeagle, Chief Officer, rt Health from the last course. Each course introduces a new co-op leader in conversation, and in June we will meet Taryn Lane from Hepburn Energy.

BCCM Innovation Masterclass
Our newest offering, this industry-specific masterclass gives the BCCM community access to world-class innovation thinking delivered by global facilitators providing practical and immediately usable approaches. This masterclass is perfect for teams, emerging leaders and executives looking to build innovation and resilience in their organisation. This three, half-day online masterclass is delivered by University of Geneva and UTS Professor Emmanuel Josserand and Strategyzer global innovation advisor Fred Etiemble. The masterclass will run from 2pm – 5:30 pm AEST on 22 and 29 August, and 5 September 2022. Bookings now open.

A wealth of knowledge at your fingertips: Co-operative Farming tools

Whether you’re looking for research that reports on the economic and social value of co-ops, state-specific compliance information or succession planning guidance, you’ll find it in the Co-operative Farming library. We’ve curated a range of reports, templates, manuals, websites and other tools from governments and leading co-op peak bodies around the world to help you run your co-op.

We’re here to help

If you have questions or would like more information or support to plan, start or run a co-op, please get in touch with the Co-operative Farming team.