Originally written by Meaghan Burkett, posted in LinkedIn.

If I had just one piece of practical advice to offer—whether I was sitting down with a Minister, a local community, impact organisation or other—it would be this: focus on asset ownership.

No matter the issue—housing affordability, stagnant incomes, inequality, productivity, small business viability, employment pathways, or renewable and circular economies—my advice would still be: asset ownership.

I work across many areas of community capital—generating, accessing, managing, governing, investing, redistributing—but again and again, I come back to this core truth:

📌 Who owns the assets holds the power, the value, and the future.

By assets, I mean anything that holds value and delivers benefits—land, buildings, tools, businesses, cash, and other things of value.

And by ownership, I mean who holds the controlling stake—who decides how an asset is used, who earns from it, and who it benefits over time.

Asset ownership matters because:

– Assets enable life – they’re the foundations of where we live, work, create, and connect.

– Assets generate income and wealth – and more Australians need diverse income-generating opportunities.

– Assets open commercial opportunities and let communities shape their own development.

– Assets build long-term security.

So what do we do with this?

👉 We need to diversify asset ownership.
That means more local people, communities, and organisations holding a real stake in the assets that shape their future.

👉 We need to make ownership intentional, not purely market driven.
Let’s ensure assets are owned by those who contribute to them and rely on them—employees, customers, and communities—not just distant shareholders, generational wealth-holders, or external investors.

👉 We need to create the conditions for ownership.
Ownership needs support—legal structures, financing, governance, and enabling policy.

👉 We need to design for shared and collective ownership in addition to individual ownership.
Shared models like community companies can spread benefits, reduce risk and align with community values.

👉 We need to invest in ownership capacity.
People and places need skills and support—planning, governance, and partnerships—to succeed.

👉 We need to embed equity into ownership.
We must actively ensure that ownership models address historical exclusion and prioritise First Nations communities, young people, low-income households, and others often left out of asset-based systems.

There are already hundreds of powerful stories of community asset ownership across the country.

The momentum is real.

But to truly scale this movement, we need supportive policy, investment, and systems that make ownership accessible to more people and places.

I share this message with communities every day—and if I haven’t yet connected with yours, I hope this post gives you something useful to think about.

Next stop… Tanya Plibersek and Jim Chalmers if you’ll have me 😊