Co-operatives and mutuals were included in a list of Australia’s top ten private companies. The rankings feature the country’s top 500 companies by revenue.
Australia’s biggest co-operative and largest exporter of grain, Co-operative Bulk Handling (CBH), which is a member of the Alliance, came second with an annual revenue of AUD $4.12bn, up 27% from the previous year. CBH employs 1,000 people and has assets of more than AUD $2bn.
Another co-operative that made the top five was Devondale Murray Goulburn, which has revenues of AUD $2.99bn. Set up 60 years ago by a group of dairy farmers who wanted better prices for their milk, the co-op is now Australia’s largest dairy foods company and is 100% controlled by Australian farmers.
The country’s Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals includes 39 co-operatives, mutual, employee owned enterprises and industry bodies, acting as the main voice for co-operatives and mutuals.
Another BCCM member that made it to the top ten was Hospital Contribution Fund (HCF), Australia’s largest not-for-profit fund. With 80 years of experience in the sector, the mutual is the oldest of the big four Australian health funds. HCT had revenues of AUD $2.51bn and came ninth on the list.
A number of other co-ops and mutuals were featured in the top 500: HBF Health Funds (18), Australian Unity (22), RACQ (38), RAC WA (61) and Norco Co-op (83), NRMA (86), Geraldton Fishermen’s Co-op (143), Northern Co-op Meat (180), Plumber’s Supplies Co-op (394), Uni Co-op Bookshop (439) and NSW Sugar Milling Co-op (474).
The top 500 was compiled by IBISWorld in collaboration with The Australian by using company reports lodged with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission as well as IBISWorld’s own appraisals of company revenue by looking at historic data and industry analysis. Overall, the country’s largest private companies generates AUD $296bn in revenue and employed 440,000 people.
Photo: CBH plant
