As conversations about the “new economy” gain momentum, much of the attention tends to focus on innovation, entrepreneurship, and new technologies. Less visible—but far more established—is a form of enterprise that has quietly enabled participation, resilience, and shared prosperity for generations: the co-operative.
In a recent episode of Voices of the New Economy, co-operative developer Antony McMullen offered a grounded exploration of what co-operatives are, how they work, and why they matter now more than ever. Rather than presenting co-operatives as a silver bullet or idealistic alternative, the conversation revealed them as practical, adaptable structures that allow people to participate directly in economic life—sharing both the benefits and the responsibilities that come with it.
What Makes a Co-operative Different?
At their core, co-operatives are member-based, democratically governed enterprises. Unlike conventional companies, where ownership and control are typically separated from those most affected by business decisions, co-operatives are designed so that members are both users and owners of the enterprise.
This structural difference matters. In a co-operative, decision-making power is not determined by the amount of capital invested, but by membership. Surplus is distributed—or reinvested—according to shared rules that prioritise long-term benefit, community wellbeing, and sustainability, rather than short-term extraction. Participation is not an add-on or a corporate responsibility strategy layered onto an otherwise extractive model; it is embedded in the organisation’s constitutional DNA.
As Antony noted in the conversation, co-operatives create a fundamentally different relationship between people and the economy. Members are not simply customers, workers, or investors. They are participants in a shared economic project.
Owning the Upsides—and the Downsides
One of the most striking insights from the episode was the idea that co-operatives allow people to “own their own problems”. This framing moves the discussion away from utopian expectations and towards realism.
Co-operatives are not immune to failure, conflict, or market pressures. What distinguishes them is how those challenges are encountered. When difficulties arise, responsibility is not displaced onto distant shareholders or external owners. Instead, members collectively navigate trade-offs, risks, and constraints, learning through the process of participation.
This does not make co-operatives easier to run. In many cases, it makes them harder. Democratic decision-making takes time. Shared responsibility requires trust, communication, and ongoing effort. Yet these challenges are also formative. They build economic literacy, collective capability, and a deeper understanding of how enterprises actually function.
A Movement at Global Scale
Despite often being framed as niche or marginal, the co-operative movement is vast. Globally, millions of co-operatives operate across sectors as diverse as banking, agriculture, housing, energy, retail, and care. Hundreds of millions of people are members of co-operatives, many without even realising it.
In Australia, mutual banks, agricultural co-operatives, community enterprises, and member-owned services form part of the everyday economic landscape. The podcast conversation highlighted an important contrast: while shareholder-owned banks featured prominently in financial misconduct scandals, mutual banks—owned by their customers—largely did not. The difference was not a matter of individual ethics alone, but of structure and accountability.
Co-operatives, by design, are accountable to those who use them. This creates conditions where ethical practice is easier to sustain, even if perfection is never guaranteed.
Flexibility Across Contexts
Another key theme of the episode was the flexibility of the co-operative model. Co-operatives are not confined to a single ideology, industry, or scale. They can be worker-owned, consumer-owned, producer-owned, or multi-stakeholder. They can operate as not-for-profit entities or distribute surplus in limited, member-controlled ways.
This adaptability allows co-operatives to emerge wherever groups of people share a common need—whether that is access to finance, affordable housing, dignified work, local services, or community infrastructure. Rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all solution, the co-operative form can be shaped to fit local conditions while remaining anchored in shared principles.
Participation as an Economic Practice
Perhaps the most significant contribution of co-operatives to the new economy lies in their treatment of participation—not as consultation, but as practice. Participation in a co-operative involves decision-making, responsibility, and mutual accountability. It requires members to engage with complexity rather than outsourcing it.
In this sense, co-operatives are not only enterprises; they are learning environments. They cultivate skills in governance, collaboration, conflict resolution, and long-term thinking—capacities that are increasingly necessary in a world facing ecological limits and social fragmentation.
Rather than asking how to make existing economic systems marginally less harmful, co-operatives invite a deeper question: what would an economy look like if people were structurally enabled to shape it?
A Grounded Path Forward
The conversation with Antony made clear that co-operatives are neither new nor experimental. They are a proven, scalable form of economic organisation that already underpins significant parts of everyday life. What is new is the urgency of re-examining them in the context of intersecting social, economic, and ecological crises.
In a time when many people feel disconnected from economic decision-making, co-operatives offer a way back in. Not by promising perfection, but by creating structures where people can participate meaningfully, share responsibility, and build enterprises that serve collective wellbeing.
In the search for a new economy, co-operatives remind us that transformation does not always require invention from scratch. Sometimes, it requires paying closer attention to what has been working—quietly, collectively, and for a very long time.
