The public debate that has been sparked by the National Australia Bank’s decision to close 56 bank branches, and its impact on rural and regional Australia is a topic close to the heart of an upcoming public seminar by the Australian Centre for Cooperative Research and Development (ACCORD). 

On Thursday 11 April Charles Sturt University’s Bathurst Campus will host an ACCORD seminar, drawing upon the work of two ACCORD researchers, who have assessed ways in which cooperative initiatives can improve the social economy and sustainability of rural communities.

ACCORD research fellow Dr Jo Barraket is the author of Building Sustainable Communities: Cooperative Solutions to Rural Renewal, commissioned by the NSW Fair Trading Advisory Council, which addresses the following issues:

• The development of sustainable rural communities, that have a vibrant local economy, strong social capital and a healthy natural environment – key features that are interdependent, not operating in isolation from one another.
• A model for rural sustainability based on emphasising the value of strategic networking, specialist knowledge, intellectual property, branding and other intangible assets as the basis for competitive advantage.
• The benefits of cooperative approaches to meeting local, social and environmental objectives

This will be followed by ACCORD Associate, Dr Gary Lewis, author of Laughing all the Way to the Credit Union – The CreditCare Experience in No-Bank Towns, in which he addresses:

• The effects of bank closures on rural communities
• The CreditCare experience of 1995 to 2000

(CreditCare was a program initiated by the Credit Union movement and supported by the Commonwealth Government to address the problems caused to many rural communities by the withdrawal of bank branches.)

The report was commissioned by ACCORD to contribute to community understanding of what succeeds in creating sustainable economic development in our country towns. 

The ACCORD seminar commences at 10am in The Grange, CSU Bathurst Campus on Thursday 11 April.  Members of the public are welcome to attend.