Employee and community ownership in Australia: a practical path for succession, shared prosperity and resilience

Australia is facing a major business succession challenge. As owners retire, many small and medium enterprises risk being sold off, stripped down or closed, even when they remain viable and valued by workers and communities. Added to this we are finding ourselves in a world where relocalising our economy is less a 'nice to have' and more a necessity.

Employee ownership offers another path. In the UK, it has become a serious and proven succession option, helping businesses transition to employees, protect jobs, build shared prosperity and stay rooted in place. It shows that ownership can be passed on in ways that strengthen both enterprise and community.

Australia has not yet built the same enabling environment. We still lack clear frameworks, policy support and mainstream awareness. Yet the need is real, and the opportunity is growing.

This event will focus mainly on employee ownership: why it matters now, how it works, what the UK experience can teach us, and what problems it could help address in Australia.

The evening will also serve as a report launch for RMIT FORWARD. Authored by RMIT Senior Industry Fellow Pete Cohen, with Antony McMullen and Yolanda von Gellecum of Co-operative Bonds, the report brings together the thinking, examples and practical insights generated through the Employee and Community Ownership Hub (ECOH) community of practice, which formed in the wake of Graeme Nuttall OBE’s 2024 Melbourne event at RMIT FORWARD. That earlier discussion helped spark a deeper Australian conversation about business succession, shared ownership and new economic models. Over the following months, the community of practice created space for dialogue between Australian pioneers, practitioners and international experience. This report is a key fruit of that process.

ECOH has a broader purpose than this single event. It connects different parts of what is often called the social economy and explores stewardship and ownership models that put local people, shared responsibility and the common good first.

How the evening will run

• Hosted by 888 Co-operative Causeway at the Kelvin Club in Melbourne, with support from RMIT FORWARD, Employee Ownership Australia and the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals, the evening will bring together practical examples, insight and discussion.

• Hear from Pete Cohen, Adjunct Senior Industry Fellow at RMIT University and co-steward of ECOH and others involved in contributing to this landmark paper.

• Hear from Andrew McDougall, Principal & Partner at SGS Economics and Planning talking first hand about the windy road to employee ownership transition.

• Also hear from Yolanda van Gellecum (Secretary, Co-operative Bonds), a key contributor to the white paper, discuss dynamic governance and employee and community ownership and how the rubber hits the road.

• Together speakers will reflect on the report, the lessons emerging from the community of practice, and the practical steps needed to make employee ownership a more visible and workable option in Australia.

What you’ll come away with

• Come away with a clearer sense of how employee ownership works in practice, why it is gaining ground overseas, and why it deserves much more attention in Australia.

• Gain a better understanding of the ideas gathered through the RMIT FORWARD report and the wider dialogue that has emerged through the ECOH community of practice.

• Leave with a stronger sense of how alternative ownership and stewardship models can help build a fairer, more resilient and more inclusive economy.

Drinks available at the bar. Light catering provided.

Patron of 888 Co-operative Causeway, Basil Varghese will provide a closing reflection on proceedings.