A new book called A History of Australian Co-operatives 1827-2023 that we were pleased to help with has recently been published. Authored by friends of ours from the University of Sydney Co-operatives Research Group, the book is available from Routledge here or our reference library. In the book Patmore, Balnave and Marjanovic provide a perspect...

Here is the latest edition of the Archives Newsletter.............

“With our size, we can’t compete on price against other larger financial institutions. However, we can give them a high level of service, human interaction, and a personal touch typical of the caring nature of credit unions” – John Kenny, Chair, Firefighters Credit Co-operative (1998) Teachers Mutual Bank (TMB) is one of the biggest customer own...

We have recorded our first oral history interview for 2024 with Coastline Credit Union Director and former QBANK CEO Grant Devine. Grant told us about his early years in finance and his introduction to mutuals in 2001 through a role with Queensland Teachers Credit Union (now part of RACQ Bank). The full transcript of the recorded interview will ...

“Members sometimes don’t feel comfortable taking their complaints to the credit union” – Gail Cork, CUDRC The Credit Union Dispute Resolution Centre Pty Ltd (CUDRC) was established in November 1996 to assist participating credit unions and their members resolve complaints in a fair, timely and cost-effective manner. The CUDRC was funded by partici...

Australian Mutuals History was sorry to learn of the recent passing of Col Chant, aged 90. Col was a Police Officer (Senior Sergeant) and foundation Director of Queensland Police Co-operative Credit Union (today known as QBANK). Col served as QBANK Director from the formation meeting on 2 June 1964 until 2014. Boards of Directors were the engine...

As we’ve detailed in numerous ways in our blog, the 1980s and 90s were transformative for mutuals and indeed for society at large. It was during this time that mergers and name changes were at their peak. An interesting case study of this period is First Pacific Credit Union which was based in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. First Pacific was r...

The Latrobe Valley in Gippsland has been described as the Ruhr of Australia. Open cut mines covering hundreds of acres scar the valley. Extensive urban areas, Morwell, Traralgon, Moe-Newborough-Yallourn North, and Churchill fringe the industrial developments. Power stations, with their ever-present exhaust plumes dominate the landscape – ‘Victorian...

Our first shared oral history interview of 2024 is with Kevin Dupe. Kevin’s career in mutuals began in the 1980s with the Australian Federation of Credit Unions Ltd (AFCUL) where he worked as the National Government Affairs Manager. Some of what Kevin relates about his time there is quite extraordinary. Kevin was CEO of Regional Australia Bank for...