Co-operatives in Australia and Italy

Anthony Jensen, Greg Patmore and Ermanno Tortia

The Australian Co-operative Movement - History

• Rochdale Consumer Co-operatives- From 1850s- Reached peak during World World II

• Producer Co-operatives- From 1880s- Largest co-ops

• Credit Unions– Significant growth since World War II

• Other co-ops– Worker co-ops e.g.. Whylla Glove Factory Co-op– Housing co-ops e.g.. Peter Lalor Home Building Co-op

Australian Co-operative Movement - Current State (Australia Institute, 2012)

• The co-operative sector (Australia)

- 1,600 co-operatives

- 103 financial mutuals ($83 Billion combined total assets)

- 13.5 million members (estimated, overlapping memberships)

- $17 billion for top turnover 100 in 2011

• Sizeable examples of co-ops/mutuals-

- Credit Union Australia (Credit Union, $9 Billion assets)

- Co-operative Bulk Handling Ltd. (Grain, $2.9 Billion revenue)

- Murray Goulburn Co-operative (Dairy, $2.3 Billion revenue)

- Capricorn Society Ltd. (Purchasing Co-op, $1 Billion revenue)

Italian cooperativesCensus data 2001-2011

Active Coops

Employed workers

2001 2011 % variation 2001 2011 % variation

Coop (social coops excluded)Full time employees 786092 803294 2.2External workers 30318 26477 -12.7Temporary workers 26477 5808 118Total cooperatives (excluding social coops) 47719 50134 5.1 819074 835579 2

Coop (social coops)Full time employees 149147 320513 114.9External workers 9861 43082 336.9Temporary workers 136 1411 937.5Total cooperatives (social coops) 5.674 11.264 98.5 159.144 365.006 129.4

Coop (including social coops)Full time employees 935239 1123807 20.2External workers 40179 69559 73.1Temporary workers 2800 7219 157.8Total cooperatives (including social coops) 53.393 61.398 15 978218 1200585 22.7

Comparing Australia and Italy

• (i) Data • (ii) Legal Environment • (iii) Peak Organisations

• (iv) Political Support

• (v) Academic Environment

The Project - Background

- Origins

- First conference (University of Sydney, 2010)

- Second conference (University of Trento, 2011)

The Project – Current Structure

(i) The comparative dimension Look at the broader context Try to find out why there are differences and where possibly similarities

The Project – Current Structure

(ii) Issues Capturing some of specific concerns of Australian and Italian researchers

(1) Housing Co-operatives (2) Social Co-operatives (3) Social Media (4) Fighting Organised Crime (5) Industrial Relations (6) Governance (7) Social Capital (8) Aboriginal Co-operatives

The Project – Final Outcome

• The Proposed Book