The Power of Co: Reshaping care systems through employee ownership

23 April 2026

Launched in the 2025 International Year of Co-operatives, The Power of Co is a video campaign to share the passion of the people who run some of Australia’s leading co-operative and mutual organisations.

The latest instalment in the campaign features Kudos Services and its CEO Liz O’Connell, highlighting how co-operation is shaping leadership, culture and service delivery in social care.

Liz reflects on what co‑operation looks like inside an organisation supporting children, young people and families as they navigate complex systems. Her story demonstrates how employee‑driven co-operative models can strengthen care delivery.

Founded in 2018, Kudos Services is Australia’s first care service mutual, where the members are the people who deliver the care. It delivers specialist allied health and support services, with a focus on empowering children, young people and their families to live their best lives.

Care shaped by those who deliver it

For Liz, the defining strength of the co‑operative model is the way it brings together commercial success and purpose-driven by those who matter most – it’s a mutual mindset that permeates the various sectors co-ops and mutuals operate in.

“There’s no fighting for the top in the co‑operative industry. It’s all about sharing and being, I think, proud as a collective across many different industries,” she says.

At Kudos, that collective mindset directly shapes how care is designed and delivered. As an employee‑owned mutual, the organisation is led by allied health professionals and support staff who work with children and families every day.

In the video, Liz explains how this ownership structure allows services to evolve in response to real needs on the ground.

“If I’ve got a couple of hundred allied health professionals who on a daily basis are working with children and families and I allow them to choose the direction and them to give me the ideas of what this business should do, because they are the ones that are in control.”

This approach keeps care person‑centred while strengthening accountability, trust and engagement across the workforce – all critical in sectors where continuity and relationships matter.

Navigating complexity without losing purpose

Social care organisations operate in an environment shaped by reform, funding constraints and increasing demand. For Kudos, the transition from government delivery into an employee‑owned mutual was driven by a desire to preserve person-centred care values while building long‑term sustainability.

Liz reflects on how co‑operative and mutual structures help organisations manage this balance.

“I can learn from others how to bring the commercial focus to make my business stronger and more sustainable, but it doesn’t detract from its social purpose. In fact, that’s leveraged even higher.”

In allied health and disability services, sustainability underpins workforce stability, service continuity and the ability to support people with complex needs over time. Employee ownership provides a framework for holding these priorities together.

Learning across the co‑operative and mutual economy

A central theme in the video is the value of learning across the co‑operative and mutual economy. Liz describes how organisations operating in very different sectors benefit from shared values and long‑term thinking.

“You might assume that there is sort of no common thread between why a social care business is sitting alongside private health and agriculture and motor trade, but we do that and we all learn together.”

This cross‑sector exchange strengthens leadership capability and commercial understanding, while reinforcing the collective purpose that sits at the heart of the co‑operative and mutual model.

“Imagine joining a club where everyone wants the same thing and you all turn up together to achieve a common purpose. It’s the grandest form of teamwork. It’s like taking sport into business really.”

Supporting a co‑operative future of care

The experience of Kudos Services reflects a broader national focus on how co‑operative and mutual models can strengthen Australia’s care systems.

The Care Together Program is Australia’s first education, advisory and support program dedicated to developing co‑operative and mutual enterprises in the social care sector. Delivered by the Business Council of Co‑operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) and funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, the program was established to improve the quality, sustainability and diversity of care services.

Care Together focuses on aged care, disability care, veterans’ services, First Nations services, allied health and primary health care, with a particular emphasis on regional, rural and remote communities where traditional service models are under pressure.

By strengthening governance, business models and leadership capability, the program supports care organisations to deliver high‑quality, person‑centred services while remaining grounded in community and professional ownership. Kudos Services illustrates how these principles translate into practice.

A model with national relevance

BCCM CEO Melina Morrison said the Kudos story highlights the growing role employee‑owned mutuals can play in the future of care and public service delivery.

“Kudos shows what’s possible when the people closest to the work are trusted to lead,” Melina said. “Employee‑owned mutuals like Kudos demonstrate that person-centred care values, commercial sustainability and social impact can sit side by side. That’s a powerful model for the future of care in Australia.”

By bringing care leaders like Liz O’Connell into the national conversation, The Power of Co series helps build understanding of how co‑operative and mutual models are working in practice – and why they matter for communities, workforces and systems under pressure.

About The Power of Co

The Power of Co campaign aims to raise awareness of the positive impact of co‑operatives and mutuals on the economy, the community and society through a series of short films focused on leadership.

The films feature leaders from co‑operative and mutual enterprises and explore the transformational potential of co‑operation on people’s lives in areas as diverse as aged care and health, disability, motoring and banking.

Over the coming months, the first five Power of Co films will be shared across LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. We would love to share more stories of co‑operation in future series. For inquiries, please contact [email protected].