---
title: Co-operative Bonds
type: practice
status: active
country: AU
website: https://bonds.coop
logo: /assets/org-logos/cooperative-bonds.png
contact:
  checked: 2026-07-24
  email: hello@bonds.coop
  phone: +61 418 223 517
  source: https://bonds.coop/connect-with-us/
summary: A Melbourne-based cooperative of cooperative developers, providing governance,
  business model, and development support to co-operatives, mutuals, social enterprises,
  and member-based organisations across Australia.
concepts:
- cooperative
- economic-democracy
- workplace-democracy
- community-business
- worker-cooperatives
location:
  latitude: -37.8136
  longitude: 144.9631
  name: Melbourne, Australia
  precision: city
news_page: https://bonds.coop/resources/co-op-news/
rss_feed: https://bonds.coop/feed
events:
- date: '2018-01-01'
  title: Founded by Antony McMullen, Clare Fountain, and Paul Saeki
  url: https://bonds.coop/about-us/our-story/
  quote: Co-operative Bonds was formed in 2018 with a simple but powerful idea
  note: The site's own About page confirms the 2018 founding and describes the founders
    as "a group of community enterprise developers" but doesn't name them individually
    — Antony McMullen, Clare Fountain and Paul Saeki per prior research.
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-12'
  notable: true
activity:
  rss:
    date: 2026-08-17
    note: RSS feed active
    url: https://bonds.coop/feed
    checked: 2026-08-17
  scrape:
    date: 2026-07-30
    note: Latest news page scraped
    url: https://bonds.coop/resources/co-op-news/
    checked: 2026-08-17
last_checked: '2026-06-29'
---

Co-operative Bonds is a cooperative development consultancy structured as a cooperative itself. Founded by Antony McMullen, Clare Fountain, and Paul Saeki, it provides education and development services to help purpose-driven member-based organisations build financially viable and sustainable models.

McMullen presented the economic democracy case at a [2020 Designing Open Democracy podcast](../blog/posts/2020-06-20-podcast.md) on moving beyond Corporate Social Responsibility toward structurally democratic economic institutions.

## What they do

- Governance consulting and framework design
- Business model development and economic modelling
- Adult learning and cooperative education
- Corporate strategy for member-driven enterprises

Co-operative Bonds notably co-drafted the **Co-operative and Mutual Enterprise (CME) governance framework** for the Australian Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) in 2018 — a best-practice governance standard for the sector.

## Cooperatives they have supported

The consultancy has supported the development of several cooperative ventures, including:

- **[bHive](https://bhive.coop/)** (Bendigo) — Australia's first platform cooperative for neighbourhood resource and skill sharing
- **Cooperative Power Australia** — renewable energy cooperative
- **Earthworker Co-operative** — worker cooperative ecosystem including Redgum Cleaners Cooperative
- **ORICoop** — Organic and Regenerative Investment Cooperative

## About the founder

Antony McMullen is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia (FGIA) and the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA). He also co-founded [888 Co-operative Causeway](888-cooperative-causeway.md) and the (now closed) Co-op Incubator.

## Links

- Website: [bonds.coop](https://bonds.coop)

## See also

- [Cooperative](../concepts/cooperative.md)
- [Economic Democracy](../concepts/economic-democracy.md)
- [Workplace Democracy](../concepts/workplace-democracy.md)
- [Community Business](../concepts/community-business.md)