Co-operatives are reshaping how care is delivered across NSW

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Home Caregiver with senior man in bathroom

The Committee for Sydney’s landmark report, Raising Sydney’s Care Factor (October 2025), makes a clear case for co-operative and community-led models of care as a practical response to market pressures, workforce shortages and the closure of smaller aged care providers.

“The dominant private provider model is under increasing strain… Co-operative and community-led models offer an alternative that can share resources, reduce costs and keep services local. These models also build stronger community ownership, improving accountability and resilience.” – Raising Sydney’s Care Factor, Committee for Sydney, p. 163

The report calls on policymakers to:

pilot co-operative and community-led models in regions where market failure is most acute
provide start-up funding and legal support to establish co-operative governance structures
scale successful models nationally once proven
enable co-operatives to access concessional capital through a proposed Care Investment Class (p. 163)

Real-world example: Care Together’s MACN Co-op

A regional NSW initiative featured as an example of how co-operation keeps essential services viable:

“Seven regional aged care providers in the Murrumbidgee area established the MACN Co-op to provide shared back-end services across seven independent facilities. By sharing resources, the model reduces costs that would otherwise force small providers to close, ensuring services remain available in rural areas.” (p. 164)

The MACN Co-op and Care Together’s other projects demonstrate how community-owned structures can stabilise services, preserve local employment and keep care embedded in communities.

Why this matters

The Committee for Sydney argues that co-operative and mutual models not only strengthen care delivery but also ensure profits and decision-making remain local, helping rebuild trust and sustainability in a sector under pressure.

By recognising care as essential infrastructure and empowering local ownership, co-operatives like the MACN Co-op are helping to secure the future of regional care, keeping services open, accountable and community-driven.

Read the Committee for Sydney’s landmark report, Raising Sydney’s Care Factor (October 2025).