| ACCORD News Edition 13, August 2003 | |
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Contents in this issue
Co-operative profileAlbany GateWAy, a portal for the WestAlbanygateWAy.com.au
is a community portal for the Great Southern region of Western
Australia. The brainchild of an Albany focus group, this innovative
site was constructed by former portal manager, Gill Sellar. Gill
wanted to assist her local community to come on-line and keep pace
with global developments on the Internet.
Although there are many examples of good e-business sites and community portals, this is the only regional community portal run by a co-operative that is e-commerce capable. Albany Gateway Co-operative recently completed a virtual shopping mall and has a secure credit card facility. The group is now planning to introduce the concept of e-commerce to the local business community. They are also partnering with the Albany Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the University of Western Australia to develop business-to-business capability. This ambitious project will take many years to be fully integrated into the e-community. The new keeper of the portal and co-ordinator of the co-op, Julie Bucknell, is optimistic about their future and being at the forefront of research and development for e-business. "It may sound a bit like singing our own praises," says Julie, " but given it's special features, we believe AlbanygateWAy.com.au can be held up as world best practice. The nature of enquiries we receive from around the world about our portal development confirms this". Why not visit the site and see for yourself. http://www.albanygateway.com.au Public policy and legislation
"Stopping Demutualisation" - Kiwis prefer no regulationThere is an ongoing debate, at least in Australia, about possible steps towards preventing future demutualisation of co-operative and mutual businesses. From the eastern, the New Zealand side of the Tasman, it appears that Australians favour government (state or federal) intervention and legislation to control matters considered to be in the best interest of the wider community. This is one side of the debate about stopping demutualisation. Government research into social capitalThe Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is now involved in the measurement of social capital; the networks, social norms and trust relations that facilitate group action. The ABS has consulted academics, nonprofit organisations, and state and federal government agencies, on how to define social capital, and the indicators to best measure the concept. The aim is to develop indicators that will most benefit users; those wanting to use government-collected data, and those interested in undertaking their own measurement of social capital. The ABS social capital theme page provides more details, and a comprehensive series of links to work on social capital: http://www.abs.gov.au themes, social capital (under People) and: http://www.abs.gov.au/CA25670D007E9EA1/ Charities and Not-for-profits: A modern legal frameworkIn July 2003, the British Home Office published the government's response to a report from the Strategy Unit (Private Action, Public Benefit). The Strategy Unit report set out 61 recommendations for the reform of voluntary sector law and regulation, and the Home Office report details: (i) the submissions to a consultation on the proposals and (ii) the Government's response, taking account of the views expressed in the consultation. The Home Office report can be downloaded from their website. The report has a number of sections: general comments on the review; recommendations for modernising charity law and charitable status; recommendations for improving the range of legal forms; recommendations for ensuring accountability and transparency, building public confidence; and recommendations for ensuring independent, fair and proportionate regulation. Government only rejected outright two recommendations, one of which would have allowed charities to carry on trading activities without setting up a separate trading company, and the other that would have given co-operatives a statutory definition following International Cooperative Alliance principles. All the other recommendations were accepted, either as laid out in the initial report, or with some modifications. A number of recommendations will be taken forward by the charity regulator - the Charity Commission, especially those relating to new reporting requirements by charities, such as: (I) reporting on their procedures for recruiting trustees, (ii) that larger charities should complete standard information return highlighting key qualitative and quantitative information about the charity, focusing on how it sets objectives and measures its outcomes against these, and (iii) reporting on ethical investment policies by large charities and/or those with large equity holdings. The Charity Commission will also take forward recommendations for better dissemination of information to the public, and measures to increase public confidence in the probity of fundraisers. Other recommendations will require legislation, in the form of a proposed Charities Bill. If Government takes this forward, it will addresses a range of issues including (but not exclusively): broadening the definition of charity; personal liability for trustees; audit thresholds for annual returns; changing requirements for currently exempted and excepted charities; and measures to facilitate charity mergers and the administrative running of charities. In the UK, the NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) is heading a campaign to have a Charities Bill in the next session of Parliament. A number of charities have signed up the campaign, and details can be found on NCVO's website. Financial issues and community benefitsPublic to benefit from Community Interest CompaniesProposals for developing a new entity - the Community Interest Company (CIC) by the UK Department of Trade and Industry, Treasury and Home Office that confer special regulatory and legal status to community and social enterprises, is innovative and worthy of careful examination, in view of potential transferability to Australia. CICs will have the flexibility of the company form, but with additional requirements to show that they are dedicated to the community interest. CICs will protect community interest by locking in profits and assets for use for the public good. Read the full article here. futurebuilders - An investment fund for the Voluntary and Community Sector Public Service DeliveryIn May 2002, the UK government announced it would establish a 125 million pound (A$ 350m) fund to build the capacity of voluntary and community organisations to creatively tackle problems in the areas of public concern: health and social care, crime and social cohesion, education and learning and support for children and young people. Monies would be "invested" over a three-year period. After an extensive process of deliberation via six reference groups drawn from the voluntary and community sector, in April 2003 the UK Treasury, which is responsible for the Fund, and the Compact Working Group released a set of proposals for wider public consultation. What is being proposed is a Fund that will be independent of government and will invest in voluntary and community organisations with proposals for new ways of addressing problems in target areas, or to build their capacity to manage more complex tasks and to seek independent funding. In effect it is an R&D fund for the charitable part of the voluntary sector. The fund was introduced as a sop to the voluntary sector that had long lobbied to be relieved from some of the burden of the VAT.
Bank of England considers social enterprises as a distinct entityFinancing Social Enterprises, is a recently released report commissioned by the Bank of England (BOE). This is the first time the bank has considered 'social enterprises' as a distinct small or medium sized business enterprise and examined their access to various sources of finance, and the importance of such enterprise development. Read the extended Infobrief on our web-site Community Development Financial Institutions - latest DevelopmentsACCORD Research Fellow, Kathryn Parker, highlights the latest CDFI developments in the USA and UK. Cooperative developmentModel Rules Discussion PaperThe NSW Registry of Co-operatives & Associations has drafted a discussion paper to highlight issues relating to the development of model rules and their implementation. http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au New co-ops in NSW highlight diversity and innovationCo-operation and leadershipAccord Associates Network Meeting on 4 July 2003
ACCORD Associates Network is a group of twenty-nine leading co-operative researchers and consultants from around Australia. The group met recently in Sydney to discuss co-operative development in theory and practice, the current status of the sector, and the way forward. The National Executive Committee was established, with members from Queensland, Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. The committee will focus on:
For information on the ACCORD Associates Network please email Jodie Matheson jmatheson@csu.edu.au
Social inclusion or exclusionConference considers links between poverty and social exclusionOver 500 people attended the conference, held in Sydney from 9-11 July. Most were from academia and government (local, state and commonwealth). Andrew Passey, Senior Research Fellow of ACCORD, who was at the conference summarises: 'The theme was social inclusion, although most of the papers dealt with elements of social exclusion, such as welfare, health, housing, and employment and a range of cost-cutting areas: gender, citizenship, indigenous and disability issues, and social capital. The lack of explicit reference to social inclusion (or social exclusion) perhaps reflects the European origins of the concepts, which have only recently been adopted in the UK. Jonathan Bradshaw, from the University of York, dealt with this topic' in his keynote address.' View Andrew's extended article. Social Entrepreneurs - putting people firstHow far do governments have to go to become 'civic entrepreneurs?' Kathryn Parker, Research Fellow of ACCORD discusses the main theme of the Social Entrepreneurs conference held in Canberra in March 2003. Read Kathryn's Infobrief. News in briefLie of the labelsThe Brussels-based European Community of Consumer Co-operatives has welcomed the proposed ban on misleading and dubious label claims as an important step towards providing better consumer information and public health protection. www.thenews.coop ICA to manage community names for .coopThe International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) and DotCooperation LLC (dotCoop), the sponsors of the .coop Internet domain, have announced that the ICA will take over administration of the dotCoop Community Names program. The Community Names program allows eligible organisations to become sponsors of .coop names such as http://www.australia.coop, http://www.scotland.coop and http://www.creditunion.coop. All are committed to serving the co-operatives in their locales or sectors. "ICA will be able to provide the Community Names program for .coop domains. This is a truly global view, and will enable the ICA Special Interest Groups in different sectors to fully utilise the world-wide reach of .coop," says ICA Director General Iain Macdonald. For more on the new Community Names program, visit http://www.coop Collective marketing adds value for Hunter beef producersMarketing meat meals in a bid to encourage consumers to eat more red meat is the Hunter Natural Co-operative's latest venture. The ready-to-cook meals are stored in heavy-duty, air sealed, plastic bags and have a shelf life of 12 months, without refrigeration. The challenge for this new co-operative venture is to get people used to the concept of eating meat that has been in a bag for a year! Celebrate CO-OP Week October 12 - 18Co-operatives and Credit Unions: The Heart of Our Community... live the co-operative experience! has been chosen as the theme of this year's Co-op Week, which will be celebrated October 12 - 18. Credit Union Day is October 16. See the web-site for more info Mutuals, the better option for UK CustomersCustomers Trust Mutuals more than PLCs - UK survey - media release 8/5/03 http://www.mutuo.co.uk Some interesting factsDid you know that the famous Parma Ham and the Parmesan cheese are produced by small co-operatives, federated into "conzortiums" in the region of Parma, Italy? or that the provision of electricity outside the big cities in the USA is co-operatively organised? ACCORD Hosts Sydney Chapter of SEN
The reconstituted Sydney Chapter of the Social Entrepreneurs Network is now being hosted by ACCORD. The Chapter meets monthly, at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Mapping Co-operative Studies in the New Millennium Conference (May 28 -31)ACCORD's General Manager and Senior Research Fellow Garry Cronan was one of the international speakers at the recent co-operative studies conference hosted by the British Columbia Institute for Co-operative Studies, at the University of Victoria. Over 100 researchers from twenty countries attended the conference. The main purpose of the gathering was to review the current state of research into co-operatives, and to explore and map Co-operative Studies as a field of academic enquiry. Visit the web site for information.
What's onIn Australia
2 August:NSW Co-operative Federation's Not-for-profit co-operatives. 2 August 10.30 am: Launch of ACCORD Report - State of Sector by Helen McCall, CEO, NSW Co-operative Federation at Canterbury - Hurlstone Park RSL Club 4 September: ACCORD seminar at UTS Sydney Ethnic Communities Building Better Australian Cities and Towns. For details view our Events diary. 18-19 September:1st National Gathering of Social Entrepreneurs -
There's no business like social business, and presentation of Awards, Sydney. 21-24 September: Life Activities International Conference on Disability,
Creative Community Initiatives for People with Disabilities,
Newcastle 25 September:
Western Australian Co-operative Federation Annual Conference
Friday, 24 October: The Co-operative Federation of South Australia hosts
its Annual Conference and AGM at Nuriootpa, in the Barossa Valley.
15 November: NSW Co-operative Federation seminar, Not-for-profit co-operatives
Raymond Terrace
30 Nov-3 Dec: Building a Truly Civil Society, 3rd Australian Family and Community Strengths Conference, University of Newcastle, NSWhttp://www.pco.com.au/familystrengths Events Overseas
30th August - 5th September: International Co-operative Alliance General Assembly - World Congress on Co-operatives - Oslo, Norway
10th - 11th October: Co-operative Young Film Makers Festival - National Museum of Film, Photography and Television, Bradford, UK
15th - 18th October: ICMIF Biennial Conference - Paris
AnnouncementsInternational co-operatives leader launches report in Sydney
New Cooperatives: Motivations and barriers
Boolean Algebra and social researchBranka Krivokapic-Skoko, ACCORD Senior Research Fellow, attended the Second workshop on Research Methodology organised by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts & Science. The seminar was hosted by Vrije University, Amsterdam on 25-27 June 2003. http://www.knaw.nl/rm2003 Branka's paper's titled, "Boolean Algebra and the Comparative Method : Features and Applications to Social Science" was drawn from her longstanding interest in new methods of providing causal explanations in social science. New PublicationsPublications
New Cooperatives: Motivations and Barriers We welcome your comments on our newsletter and any suggested topics or items for inclusion in the next issue, due for publication in September. If you have any items of interest please ensure that these are forwarded to suzanne.henderson@uts.edu.au by 30th August 2003. To refer a friend or to unsubscribe, please e-mail: accord@uts.edu.au. All contact information provided will be kept strictly confidential. |
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