Who we are
Mercury Co-operative Limited is registered in New South Wales under Co-operatives National Law, and has operated since 1990. Our Australian Business Number is 76 645 669 785.
Our history
The Co-operative was originally established in Victoria in 1990, and moved to New South Wales in 1995.
We changed our name along the way. We started with the unwieldy Asia Pacific Centre for Co-operatives Research Training & Development, changing to Asia Pacific Co-operative Training Centre, and then to The Mercury Centre Co-operative.
Our final change to Mercury Co-operative refined our name, but kept the ideas.
Our focus on co-operatives and training has, over time, evolved to be a broader interest in collaborative enterprise and learning.
Our activities
Mercury’s journey has been intertwined with its members. The co-operative has long been a service provider of training and education, on the wide spectrum of matters concerning starting and running of co-operatives and other collaborative enterprises.
These learning events were delivered, or curated, by co-operative members delivering to those members income. Over time, as the both the members and needs changed, so did the topics and themes that were been embraced.
In 2019 the Board pondered the future for Mercury taking to account the needs of the current members, and the value of the accumulated knowledge and resources within the co-operative. It determined that there was sense in accepting as opening the membership to like minded collaborators that may seek knowledge, or wish to work with us to add value to the community.
We redefined our primary activity of the Co-operative to be to foster a values based, best practice approach to collaborative enterprise built on the principles of self help, accountability, transparency, financial sustainability, and genuine participation of members.
Why did we choose the name Mercury?
The name Mercury has many uses – a Roman God; an astrological sign; and a planet.
Mercury was the Roman God of Business, Trading and Commerce. His name is the source for the word merchant. But he was also god of travellers and roads, of luck, and of music and eloquence. And he was the messenger of the Gods.
Mercury’s influence has long been attributed by astrologers with the gaining of knowledge, and the ability to think and speak. Mercury stands for ideas, methods and information. It represents excellence in teaching, learning, logic and reasoning, and above all, communication.
We believe the combination of these two streams captures the spirit of what we are striving to achieve.