OVERVIEW

The Save Australia Cooperative came into being in December 1999, following approval from the Registrar of Cooperatives, Office of Fair Trading, Queensland Government.
On 2nd February 2010, the Registrar approved the name change to Support Australia Cooperative, following endorsement by the members in General Meeting.

The idea behind its formation was to bring together like-minded people who wanted to pool their money into supporting Australian companies and inventions, and keep the profits in Australia, at a time when the takeover of Australian companies by foreign interests was reaching overwhelming proportions.

The first Board meeting was on 24th March 2000, and the Board has met regularly ever since.

The Cooperative has a formal charter of activities:

Active membership provisions

5.(1) Under part 6 of the Act-

Primary activity

To conduct a buying service for members in order to access discounts not available to individuals; and to provide business services to members; and to invest funds in Australian projects, companies and cooperatives as approved by the Board, with the goals of increasing the cooperative's assets and profits, and expanding the buying service into Australian brand products, whilst helping to retain Australian ownership in these projects, companies and cooperatives. is a primary activity of the cooperative; and Active membership requirements a member shall-

Purchase goods and/or services from or through the cooperative and/or acquire shares in the Cooperative  to a minimum value of $20 in the past financial year in order to establish active membership of the cooperative

The Cooperative reached a peak membership of approximately 4400 members who have collectively pooled over $1,940,000 in paid-up share capital. The majority of this money was invested in an Australian invention, the world's first and only one-piece collapsible shipping container, called the Foltainer. This project has taken over 8 years to complete, and is currently at the final stage of its journey to a successful release into the marketplace.

For many years, the primary ongoing source of funds for the Cooperative has come from the sale of Health Products, which also feeds money back to the members who purchase, and enables them to fulfil their Activity Requirements, detailed above.

The Cooperative is about to enter the Adulthood of its Life, if that is the appropriate term - where its promise is realised, and the very patient members who have invested and supported it for 9 years, at last receive their rewards.