What if Uber drivers owned Uber?

A new breed of start-ups is trying to put that model into place where workers are put ahead of billionaire venture capitalists - and they are tipped to hit Australia's shores soon.

Start-up "co-ops" are challenging the Uber-style business model that has come to define the so-called sharing economy, where workers are starting to push back against unfair pay and working conditions.

Janelle Orsi, dubbed the "sharing economy lawyer", runs a law firm in San Francisco that helps start-ups structure themselves as member-run organisations, rather than corporations.