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Emeritus Prof
Chris
Roche

collaborator

Chris was Professor of Development Practice at La Trobe University where he was also the Director of the Centre for Human Security and Social Change from 2012-2024. He is now an Emeritus Professor at the Centre.

Chris was also until recently Deputy Director (Impact) of the Developmental Leadership Program, an international research program which explores how leadership, power and political processes drive or block successful development, and co-led DLP’s work on Gender and Politics in Practice.

Prior to joining La Trobe in 2012 Chris worked for over 25 years for International NGOs as a project manager, evaluator, policy researcher and as a director. Chris is particularly interested in understanding the practice of social change processes and how those involved might be more effectively supported.

He is the author of Impact Assessment for Development Agencies: Learning to Value Change, and co-editor of Ethical Questions and International NGOs, and The Politics of Evidence and Results in International Development: Playing the Game to Change the Rules

Related Events
Moving from “power over” to “power with”
February 19, 2026
9:30 pm
AEDT (UTC+11:00)
Join us to consider how diplomacy shows up in our everyday relationships. To look around the world at the moment one might conclude that there is a reformulation of how to exercise power and influence. Out go empathy, rules of engagement, liberal interdependence, good enough consensus, and in come chainsaws, coercion, bullying and faits accomplis. ComplexitySalon is delighted to host Dr. Geoff Raby AO - Australian Ambassador to China 2007-2011, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organisation and to APEC amongst other major appointments; and author of a number of books and papers on global politics, including his most recent Great Game On: The Contest for Central Asia and Global Supremacy - to talk about the practice of diplomacy.

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ComplexitySalon with indigenous leaders from Australia, New Zealand/Aotearoa, Fiji and the Solomon Islands
December 1, 2022
9:00 pm
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Two day workshop to explore alternative ways of knowing, speaking and being together to explore asymmetric power relationships and the politics of development. In conjunction with the Institute for Human Security and Social Change, La Trobe University, with Professor Chris Roche.

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Whale beach, Sydney

Related Media

Linkedin

Are we reaching our limits of human face to face activity?
Chris Roche
February 16, 2026
Really looking forward to this event on Thursday, there are so many interesting angles to explore together with so many brilliant folks.
Attended Events

Online

How lived experience reveals what we owe one another
May 26, 2026
6:00 pm
ComplexitySalon is delighted to host Professor Laura Abbott from the UK and Tahlia Isaac from Australia, who will share their research and experiences relating to women and children navigating the justice systems. Together, they will explore how power operates at the margins of society, and what these experiences reveal about our humanity, our institutions, and the values we choose to uphold.
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