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I love the idea Allan, and have had it before myself, too!
To work, you would be best advised to create a corporate entity which acquires the land, and the 17 "owners" would be shareholders in the company with equal shareholding. There would need to be financial contributions agreed to under a Shareholders agreement to deal with such issues as upkeep and maintenance, council rates, insurances, access to and use of the facilities etc.
Because the company would have as its purpose an educational/ community based purpose, it may, if properly formed (it might for example be an incorporated association), obtain some relief from council rates etc.
I do not agree with the comment of one respondent that the legal documents would need to be the size of a phone book. I could ask one of our commercial/property lawyers at work to provide a guesstimate as to what the costs would be to prepare the documentation if there is sufficient interest.
Thinking practically, power could be an issue. I know someone who lives at Bucketty, and it cost him something like $40K to get power connected because of the remoteness of his location.
The order of things would have to be to first get the company formed, the shareholding in place from the raising of capital, the election of a board of directors, and then, once all of this is in place, steps being taken to acquire the property. Enough capital would have to be raised to cover legal fees and stamp duty as well as the purchase price itself.
All this can be done, it is simply a question of willingness and determination.
I could be convinced to join such a collective.
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