Set up a Co-op

Maple Street Co-op is often asked to provide information on how to set up a cooperative as well as provide tours of the shop for international, national and local visitors interested in the cooperative movement, its principles and practices.

Should you wish to start a cooperative, you need to approach the Registrar of Cooperatives in your particular State or Territory. Fortunately, the legislation covering cooperatives is now largely uniform throughout Australia since revisions were made in 1997.

Legislative requirements for cooperatives are set out in the Act, which includes Regulations and a set of Model Rules. You can alter these Rules to suit the particular requirements of your new cooperative, but you need to have your Rules approved by the Registrar of Cooperatives.

PDF copies of the Queensland legislation, "Cooperatives Act 1997" and the "Cooperatives Regulation 1997", can be obtained by going to http://www.qld.gov/legislation (click on "C" and scroll down to click on the Cooperatives Act and Regulation files).

For more detailed and specific information about setting up a co-op in Queensland, go to the Office of Fair Trading's website at http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au (then go to Business Publications to find three downloadable PDF files: "Cooperatives"; "Cooperatives – Role of the Board of Directors"; and "Good Business Guide – Cooperatives", which is a simplified 92-page guide to Queensland's "Cooperatives Act 1997"). For information on co-ops in other States and Territories, go to the equivalent Fair Trading department websites.

We have prepared a guide on how you can set up a cooperative wherever you are based. Copies can be obtained by contacting Maple Street Co-op.

By way of historical background and to help you start your own cooperative, we have included on our website a 1994 address by one of our founders, Jill Jordan, on the early days of Maple Street Coop from 1979; to go the "Co-op" History section.