Projects

The CHSSC provides research and learning support to the DFAT-funded Balance of Power (BOP) initiative that is being delivered by DT Global.

The BOP initiative seeks to shift the attitudes and norms that prevent women from being perceived as legitimate leaders in Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu. Central to the approach of BOP is a focus on working through the values and culture of the specific context, bringing together stakeholders who are intrinsically motivated to work as part of locally led coalitions for reform.

The CHSSC supports BOP to design research strategies, acts as a critical friend to program staff, provides peer review and research training  and supports research uptake.

The CHSSC’s contribution to this project is led by Director Lisa Denney and Senior Research Fellow Mardi Grundy.

The CHSSC is working with the Pacific Community (SPC) in 2024-25 to prepare a Pacific Youth Development Framework (PYDF). The framework aims to increase investment in youth across development sectors in Pacific countries and enhance regional accountability to the region’s youth and to youth-related international commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the UNDHR.

Work includes: i) a desk review of existing youth accountability mechanisms at the global level; ii) consultation with key regional stakeholders; iii) preparing a first draft of the framework; iv) facilitating consultation on the draft including through providing rapporteur services to two high level regional meetings. A final version of the framework will be completed in 2025 and presented for endorsement at the Pacific Island’s Forum Leaders Meeting in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

This work is led by CHSSC Research Fellow Aidan Craney and supported by Adjunct Research Fellow Allan Illingworth.

The CHSSC provides monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) support to the DFAT-funded Local Leadership and Collective Action Program (LLCAP) which is being delivered by The Voice Inc (TVI) in Papua New Guinea.

The five-year LLCAP program (2022-2026) aims to support a network of leaders and groups acting on some of Papua New Guinea’s most challenging issues. It does this by growing dialogue, knowledge and debate on an issue, then supporting leaders and organisations taking action on that issue and, around those leaders, encouraging a broader coalition of actors to bring increased resources to the reform objective.

The CHSSC works alongside TVI staff to prepare for, facilitate and report on six-monthly pause and reflect sessions and assists TVI to generate and share learning about collective action in Papua New Guinea.

The CHSSC’s contribution to LLCAP is currently led by Senior Research Fellow Mardi Grundy with support from Adjunct Research Fellow Allan Illingworth.

The CHSSC is contributing to a four-year (2022-2025) research project focused on youth leadership and civic engagement in the Pacific, funded by an ARC Discovery grant and The Asia Foundation.

With approximately two thirds of people in the Pacific aged under 35, the research aims to better understand pathways and barriers to their individual and collective leadership development. The project will provide insights into how young people in the Pacific navigate the challenges and opportunities available for them to develop as leaders and will engage directly with policy making and programming decision-makers to help them develop positive and appropriate interventions.

Since 2022, the project has been collecting case studies of youth leaders from different disciplines/sectors in Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu. In 2024, the project focused on working directly with The Asia Foundation, the Pacific Community and National Advisory Committees to develop strategies to ensure the findings from the project will have positive implications practically, academically and in the communities within which the project is taking place.

In 2025 the project will begin to publish findings and continue to work with governments and other development industry actors to work towards improving youth policy and programming.

The CHSSC’s contribution to this project is led by former Director Professor Chris Roche and supported by Research Fellow Aidan Craney.  They are working with the project’s Chief Investigator Professor Helen Lee from La Trobe University, Associate Professor Patrick Vakaoti from the University of Otago, Dr Mema Motusaga, La Trobe PhD Scholar Kolaia Raisele and staff from the Pacific Community and The Asia Foundation.

In 2022-2026, the CHSSC is partnering with DT Global to provide support for monitoring and evaluation, research, learning and knowledge dissemination activities in the DFAT-funded Women Leading and Influencing (WLI) program. WLI is a four-year $8m program which offers a range of developmental leadership offerings to Pacific scholars studying at Australian universities and institutions.

Our support includes the development, implementation and ongoing refinement of tools and approaches for capturing the impact of the program and identifying lessons learned through implementation as well as conducting research and analysis to support program delivery and contribute to the body of knowledge on women's leadership in the Pacific.

Some of the highlights from our work to date include:

• Supporting Women's Leadership During COVID-19: Women Leading and Influencing in the Pacific, a study of how the program supported participants and alumni to exercise their leadership in the COVID-19 response.
• Approaches to Engaging Men in Support of Women’s Leadership in the Pacific, a review of effective approaches to working with men based on literature and consultations with Pacific stakeholders. A short article based on the review - Gender equality, the Pacific way – was published in the Lowy Institute Interpreter and co-author Mercy Masta was interviewed for the Development Intelligence Lab’s podcast ’The Readout’.
• Case studies of WLI alumni leading change in their countries and communities.
• A series of practice briefs on WLI’s approach to supporting developmental leadership.
• Co-design and delivery of a six-month online leadership development program – LeadershipConnect – in collaboration with The Asia Foundation Pacific.
• An online event co-hosted by WLI, Australia Awards Africa, and Australia Awards in Indonesia, which brought together disability leaders from Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific to share their experiences of leading change.

The CHSSC’s work is currently led by Senior Research Fellows Elisabeth Jackson and Mardi Grundy.

Between 2020 and 2023, the CHSSC partnered with Bandung Independent Living Center (BILiC) in Indonesia to explore how persons with disabilities’ identities and life histories shape their leadership practice.

Funded by the Developmental Leadership Program (DLP), the research drew on in-depth interviews with 55 disability leaders from both rural and urban areas across Indonesia, examining how they understand leadership, how they become leaders, what strategies they use to advocate for change, and what this means for how development organisations can support persons with disabilities to lead change.

Six members of the team were persons with disabilities who themselves have a strong leadership identity and are influential within the Indonesian disability movement. Their lived experiences helped shape the design of the research and the interpretation of the findings.

Key publications from the research include:

• A report outlining the findings of the research, Finding Self, Leading Others: Leadership Journeys of Persons with Disabilities in Indonesia (available in both English and Indonesian).
• An executive summary of the report (available in both English and Indonesian).
• A short interview: ‘I Had to Learn to Advocate for Myself’: In Conversation with Indonesian Disability Activist Nur Syarif Ramadhan.
• A blog, Postcard from Flores: Conversations with Indonesian Disability Activists

The project was co-led by Senior Research Fellow Elisabeth Jackson and Adjunct Research Officer Eka Liu in collaboration with Ishak Salim, Cucu Saidah, Joni Yulianto, Nur Syarif Ramadhan, Yuyun Yuningsih, Robandi, Panji Surya Putra Sahetapy, Sen Sendjaya and Erin Wilson.

From 2013 to 2023, the CHSSC partnered with the University of Birmingham (UoB) and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to implement the Developmental Leadership Program (DLP). This DFAT-funded research partnership explored how leadership, power and political processes drives or blocks successful development.

The third phase of the Developmental Leadership Program (DLP3) ran from 2019 to June 2023. The seven research projects that were commissioned during this phase focused on exploring how leadership is understood in different contexts, where leaders come from, how leaders collectively influence institutions, and how developmental leadership can be supported.

The seven research projects covered three countries in Asia and four countries in the Pacific. All projects were led or conducted in partnership with a researcher or institution based in the country of study with local researchers undertaking the majority of the field work.  The aggregate results of the research conducted during this phase were captured in a synthesis paper Navigating Everyday Leadership.

A key focus of the CHSSC’s contribution to DLP3 was understanding how and under what circumstances evidence generated through these research projects does or does not inform policy and practice.

In 2022-23, the CHSSC partnered with UoB to develop the curriculum and training materials for a training course on developmental leadership which was informed by DLP research. The five-module course was delivered to DFAT staff for the first time in the last quarter of 2023. The course is now being reviewed and revised and will be delivered for the second time in the second half of 2025.

The CHSSC’s contribution to DLP3 was led by former CHSSC Director Professor Chris Roche with support from then Principal Research Fellow Lisa Denney, then PhD Research Scholar Ujjwal Krishna, Senior Research Fellow Elisabeth Jackson and Senior Outreach and Learning Advisor Chris Adams.

In 2023-2024, the CHSSC worked with  Coalitions for Change - a partnership between The Australian Government and The Asia Foundation in the Philippines - to develop case studies of developmental policy reforms in  different contexts. Each of the three cases demonstrate politically smart and learning-oriented ways of working within challenging political contexts and share similarities to the development entrepreneurship approach CfC have pioneered.

Key research outputs to date include:

Case Study No. 1: Reducing Plastic Pollution in Kenya by Clare Cummings and Francis Oremo, including an interview with Professor Judi Wakhungu, a former Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Water and Natural Resources, who championed the ban on thin plastic bags in Kenya.

Case Study No. 2: Securing Reserved Seats for Women in Vanuatu's Municipal Councils by Allan Mua Illingworth and Elizabeth Faerua, including an interview with the late Dorosday Kenneth-Watson, former Director of Women's Affairs, who was instrumental in securing reserved seats for women.

Case Study No. 3: Securing Legal Recognition for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Indonesia by Joni Yulianto, Adi Suryadini and Elisabeth Jackson.

Synthesis paper: Initial Evidence on the Relevance of "Development Entrepreneurship" Outside of the Philippines by Lisa Denney, Jamie Faustino and Rene Sanapo.

The CHSSC is partnering with The Asia Foundation (TAF) to undertake impact assessments of two DFAT-funded governance programs – the Subnational Governance program in Nepal and the Nabilan program in Timor-Leste. The resulting case studies will support greater understanding within DFAT and the international development community of the factors that contribute to impactful governance programs across a variety of contexts.

The assessments are being led by CHSSC Senior Research Fellow Thushara Dibley and Adjunct Associate Professor Linda Kelly and local researchers, with support from CHSSC Director Lisa Denney.

The CHSSC is partnering with The Asia Foundation (TAF) to develop a case study on the local impacts of rising international competition in Timor-Leste, with particular attention given to how these play out in relation to local politics, conflict dynamics and development.

It does this through analysing the local impacts of foreign interests engaged in two key sectors in Timor-Leste: police reform and infrastructure development.

The research is being undertaken by CHSSC Director Lisa Denney in collaboration with TAF researcher Gobie Rajalingam and Timorese researcher Aderito Soares.

TAF is supporting similar case studies in Afghanistan and Bangladesh

The CHSSC is partnering with The Asia Foundation (TAF) to analyse TAF’s significant work in the law and justice sector in countries across Asia. This includes reviewing TAF’s past and existing law and justice work in eight countries, contributing to the design and facilitation of workshop to discuss country findings and developing a capstone paper that captures TAF’s approach to law and justice and identifies future opportunities. The work is being undertaken by CHSSC Director Lisa Denney.

The CHSSC partnered with Abt Associates in 2022-2024 to support adaptive management in DFAT-funded programs in Papua New Guinea. This included supporting a participatory political economy analysis for the Australia-PNG Subnational Program and the implementation of adaptive management approaches within the Partnerships for Improving Education Program and the Australia PNG Economic Partnership. This work was undertaken by then Principal Research Fellow Lisa Denney.

The CHSSC partnered with The Asia Foundation (TAF) in 2021-2023 to undertake a political economy analysis of three Pacific large ocean states - Nauru, Tuvalu and Kiribati. The project experimented with adapting political economy analysis frameworks to the Pacific context, resulting in an innovative method more attuned to local realities. The analysis provided a deeper understanding of the complex political, social and economic dynamics of three countries from different perspectives and how these effect their respective development trajectories. The work was led by then CHSSC Senior Research Fellow Lisa Denney with support from Research Fellow Aidan Craney and in collaboration with Pacific researcher Peni Tawake and local researchers.

The CHSSC is partnering with the UNDP Pacific Office to undertake an EU-funded political economy analysis of accountability ecosystems in the Pacific.

The research aims to foster locally-led understandings of and approaches to accountability – recognising that the most relevant and effective mechanisms of accountability will come from Pacific Islanders, not outsiders.

The research examines and documents Pacific understandings of accountability and maps the relevant actors, relationships and power dynamics at play in the accountability ecosystem in six countries, spanning the North and South Pacific. The research deepens understandings of how accountability and oversight is thought about and enacted in diverse ways across the Pacific, as well as within countries, and identifies key actors and potential opportunities for strengthening accountability.

Project outputs to date:

• 2025 Synthesis report: The Political Economy of accountability ecosystems - Charting a new course in the Pacific - authored by Lisa Denney, Glenn Bond, Aidan Craney and Allan Mua Illingworth
• Kiribati Country Study - authored by Aidan Craney and  Tearinaki Tanielu.
• Solomon Islands Country Study - authored by Ali Tuhanuku and Aidan Craney.
• Vanuatu Country Study - authored by Gregoire Nimbtik and Allan Mua Illingworth.
• Tuvalu Country Study - authored by Tala Simeti and Allan Mua Illingworth,
• Palau Country Study - authored by Aidan Craney and Bernadett Besebes
• Responsive Governance in the Pacific - building off the Centre’s EU-funded research for UNDP on the political economy of accountability ecosystems in the Pacific, Adjunct Research Fellow Glenn Bond has developed a policy paper that sets out potential conceptual framings for UNDP’s responsive governance work.
• A literature review summarises key literature on accountability for responsive governance globally as well as within the Pacific, situating the research project in wider debates and providing a consistent baseline understanding of the scope of accountability ecosystems, and what influences its various interpretations, to inform the country studies that follow.
• A blog on the Developmental Leadership Program website introduces the research and summarises some of the emerging themes the country studies will pick up on.

The research is being led by CHSSC Director Lisa Denney with support from Research Fellow Allan Illingworth, Research Fellow Aidan Craney, Adjunct Research Fellow Glenn Bond, Research Assistant Serena Ford and Pacific researchers Gregoire Nimbtik (Vanuatu), Ali Tuhanuku (Solomon Islands), Tala Simeti (Tuvalu), Vasa Saitala (Tuvalu), Tearinaki Tanielu (Kiribati), Bernadett Besebes (Palau) and Mahoney Mori (Federated States of Micronesia).

Between 2023-2025 the CHSSC partnered with DT Global to undertake research on the intersection between disability and trafficking in ASEAN. The research was commissioned by the Australian Government funded ASEAN-Australia Counter Trafficking program, which works with regional and country-level stakeholders to improve the responses to human trafficking.

People with disabilities are widely recognised as a group at risk of trafficking. But very little is known about the specific vulnerabilities they face, what types of trafficking they experience, and how well existing counter-trafficking efforts and recovery services are meeting their needs. This research aimed to fill this gap and help ensure that people with disabilities are not left behind in counter-trafficking efforts.

In 2023-2024, Senior Research Fellow Elisabeth Jackson led a three-country study in collaboration with disability researchers Cucu Saidah (Indonesia), Abner Manlapaz (Philippines) and Alisa Sivathorn (Thailand).

A second phase of the research in 2024-2025 involved country studies in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam as well as a regional policy brief and associated recommendations. This was led by Senior Research Fellows Elisabeth Jackson and Thushara Dibley, in collaboration with ASEAN-ACT staff in each of these countries.

Key outputs from the research study to date include:

• A research report Exploring the Intersection between Disability and Trafficking in Persons in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand launched in April 2024.
• A short article by Elisabeth Jackson in the Lowy Interpreter about disability and trafficking which was published on 17 April 2024
• An Asia Rising podcast produced in May 2024 in which Elisabeth Jackson explores the link between disability and trafficking.
• A panel discussion on disability and trafficking co-hosted by the CHSSC and La Trobe Asia on 16 September 2024 with Senior Research Fellow Elisabeth Jackson and Principal Research Fellow Lisa Denney as panellists.
• Country briefs for Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam and a Regional Policy Brief.

The CHSSC provides research and learning support to the DFAT-funded Balance of Power (BOP) initiative that is being delivered by DT Global.

The BOP initiative seeks to shift the attitudes and norms that prevent women from being perceived as legitimate leaders in Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu. Central to the approach of BOP is a focus on working through the values and culture of the specific context, bringing together stakeholders who are intrinsically motivated to work as part of locally led coalitions for reform.

The CHSSC supports BOP to design research strategies, acts as a critical friend to program staff, provides peer review and research training  and supports research uptake.

The CHSSC’s contribution to this project is led by Director Lisa Denney and Senior Research Fellow Mardi Grundy.

The CHSSC is working with the Pacific Community (SPC) in 2024-25 to prepare a Pacific Youth Development Framework (PYDF). The framework aims to increase investment in youth across development sectors in Pacific countries and enhance regional accountability to the region’s youth and to youth-related international commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the UNDHR.

Work includes: i) a desk review of existing youth accountability mechanisms at the global level; ii) consultation with key regional stakeholders; iii) preparing a first draft of the framework; iv) facilitating consultation on the draft including through providing rapporteur services to two high level regional meetings. A final version of the framework will be completed in 2025 and presented for endorsement at the Pacific Island’s Forum Leaders Meeting in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

This work is led by CHSSC Research Fellow Aidan Craney and supported by Adjunct Research Fellow Allan Illingworth.

The CHSSC is contributing to a four-year (2022-2025) research project focused on youth leadership and civic engagement in the Pacific, funded by an ARC Discovery grant and The Asia Foundation.

With approximately two thirds of people in the Pacific aged under 35, the research aims to better understand pathways and barriers to their individual and collective leadership development. The project will provide insights into how young people in the Pacific navigate the challenges and opportunities available for them to develop as leaders and will engage directly with policy making and programming decision-makers to help them develop positive and appropriate interventions.

Since 2022, the project has been collecting case studies of youth leaders from different disciplines/sectors in Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu. In 2024, the project focused on working directly with The Asia Foundation, the Pacific Community and National Advisory Committees to develop strategies to ensure the findings from the project will have positive implications practically, academically and in the communities within which the project is taking place.

In 2025 the project will begin to publish findings and continue to work with governments and other development industry actors to work towards improving youth policy and programming.

The CHSSC’s contribution to this project is led by former Director Professor Chris Roche and supported by Research Fellow Aidan Craney.  They are working with the project’s Chief Investigator Professor Helen Lee from La Trobe University, Associate Professor Patrick Vakaoti from the University of Otago, Dr Mema Motusaga, La Trobe PhD Scholar Kolaia Raisele and staff from the Pacific Community and The Asia Foundation.

In 2022-2026, the CHSSC is partnering with DT Global to provide support for monitoring and evaluation, research, learning and knowledge dissemination activities in the DFAT-funded Women Leading and Influencing (WLI) program. WLI is a four-year $8m program which offers a range of developmental leadership offerings to Pacific scholars studying at Australian universities and institutions.

Our support includes the development, implementation and ongoing refinement of tools and approaches for capturing the impact of the program and identifying lessons learned through implementation as well as conducting research and analysis to support program delivery and contribute to the body of knowledge on women's leadership in the Pacific.

Some of the highlights from our work to date include:

• Supporting Women's Leadership During COVID-19: Women Leading and Influencing in the Pacific, a study of how the program supported participants and alumni to exercise their leadership in the COVID-19 response.
• Approaches to Engaging Men in Support of Women’s Leadership in the Pacific, a review of effective approaches to working with men based on literature and consultations with Pacific stakeholders. A short article based on the review - Gender equality, the Pacific way – was published in the Lowy Institute Interpreter and co-author Mercy Masta was interviewed for the Development Intelligence Lab’s podcast ’The Readout’.
• Case studies of WLI alumni leading change in their countries and communities.
• A series of practice briefs on WLI’s approach to supporting developmental leadership.
• Co-design and delivery of a six-month online leadership development program – LeadershipConnect – in collaboration with The Asia Foundation Pacific.
• An online event co-hosted by WLI, Australia Awards Africa, and Australia Awards in Indonesia, which brought together disability leaders from Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific to share their experiences of leading change.

The CHSSC’s work is currently led by Senior Research Fellows Elisabeth Jackson and Mardi Grundy.

The CHSSC and La Trobe University’s Judith Lumley Centre are partnering with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to strengthen the ability of health systems to respond to women and children experiencing violence in the Asia-Pacific.

In 2021 the team began working with the Ministry for Health, National Institute for Health and non-government organisations in Timor-Leste to develop a national in-service training package for health service providers on health-sector response to gender based violence (GBV), co-design approaches to capacity building based on international best-practice, mentor a group of national trainers as they roll out capacity building in district health systems and evaluate outcomes for shared learning.

This work led to the publication of Gender-based Violence and Healthcare in Timor-Leste, a practical guide for health professionals in Timor-Leste which brings together evidence and best practice from the World Health Organisation and carefully adapts it to the context of Timor-Leste, drawing on research with mid-wives and community leaders and the experience of women survivors of violence.

The lessons from the work in Timor-Leste have now informed the development of a similar GBV-focused health care worker curriculum and the integration of GBV into existing nursing and community health worker curricula in PNG.

The CHSSC’s contribution to this project is led in Timor-Leste by CHSSC Adjunct Research Fellow Dr. Kayli Wild and Honorary Associate Amina de Araujo; and in PNG by CHSSC Director Lisa Denney in collaboration with Felicity Young and Professor Leesa Hooker from JLC and PNG consultant Pamela Kamya.

Between 2020 and 2023, the CHSSC partnered with Bandung Independent Living Center (BILiC) in Indonesia to explore how persons with disabilities’ identities and life histories shape their leadership practice.

Funded by the Developmental Leadership Program (DLP), the research drew on in-depth interviews with 55 disability leaders from both rural and urban areas across Indonesia, examining how they understand leadership, how they become leaders, what strategies they use to advocate for change, and what this means for how development organisations can support persons with disabilities to lead change.

Six members of the team were persons with disabilities who themselves have a strong leadership identity and are influential within the Indonesian disability movement. Their lived experiences helped shape the design of the research and the interpretation of the findings.

Key publications from the research include:

• A report outlining the findings of the research, Finding Self, Leading Others: Leadership Journeys of Persons with Disabilities in Indonesia (available in both English and Indonesian).
• An executive summary of the report (available in both English and Indonesian).
• A short interview: ‘I Had to Learn to Advocate for Myself’: In Conversation with Indonesian Disability Activist Nur Syarif Ramadhan.
• A blog, Postcard from Flores: Conversations with Indonesian Disability Activists

The project was co-led by Senior Research Fellow Elisabeth Jackson and Adjunct Research Officer Eka Liu in collaboration with Ishak Salim, Cucu Saidah, Joni Yulianto, Nur Syarif Ramadhan, Yuyun Yuningsih, Robandi, Panji Surya Putra Sahetapy, Sen Sendjaya and Erin Wilson.

The CHSSC is partnering with Cowater International to lead an impact evaluation of the DFAT-funded Australia Indonesia Partnership towards an Inclusive Society (INKLUSI) program in Indonesia.

The INKLUSI program supports marginalised groups in Indonesia – including women, people with disabilities, indigenous minorities, and people who are LGBTIQ+ – to equitably participate in and benefit from Indonesia’s social, economic, and political opportunities.

Existing ways of measuring impact often focus on the things that development organisations or other outsiders see as important, rather than what is important to marginalised people themselves. This evaluation aims to centre the perspectives of program participants in assessing the impact the INKLUSI program has had on their lives.

In 2023-2024, the CHSSC developed a comprehensive design for the evaluation and undertook initial scoping with stakeholders and program participants from marginalised groups to understand their experiences and identify key ‘domains’ of empowerment. This was used to develop a tool to capture change in people’s experiences in these domains over time.

In 2025, research teams from Saraswati and Cakra Wikara Indonesia will collect data in 23 locations across 15 provinces through individual and small group interviews with over 300 program participants and 50 local government officials, service providers and community leaders.

This data will be used to develop four impact case studies as well as an overview and synthesis report outlining key findings from across the case studies and exploring the contribution that INKLUSI and its partners have made.

The findings of the evaluation will support INKLUSI and the Indonesian government to improve the effectiveness of programs to empower marginalised groups. It will also contribute valuable learning about qualitative approaches to understanding impact that centre the perspectives and experiences of marginalised groups.

The evaluation is being led by CHSSC Senior Research Fellow Elisabeth Jackson, Adjunct Associate Professor Linda Kelly, and Senior Research Fellow Thushara Dibley in collaboration with two Indonesian partners, Saraswati and Cakra Wikara Indonesia.

Elisabeth Jackson and Linda Kelly presented the impact evaluation approach at the Australian Evaluation Society Conference in October 2024 (presentation available) and the Australasian Aid Conference in December 2024 (presentation and video available).

The CHSSC is working alongside Parks Australia to develop an effective and sustainable process for monitoring and evaluating the joint management of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory.

Over a period of twelve months, the CHSSC has worked with Aboriginal communities of the park and with other Parks Australia stakeholders to develop and pilot a monitoring and evaluation approach to support the ongoing assessment of stakeholder satisfaction with the joint management of the park.

The approach has been developed, tested and refined in collaboration with Aboriginal researchers, paying particular attention to the perspectives and world views of traditional owners and local Aboriginal community members.

Our work with Parks Australia is currently led by Research Fellow Alex Gyles with support from Senior Research Fellow Mardi Grundy.

The CHSSC partnered with the Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory (APONT) in 2022-23 to conduct an evaluation of its Aboriginal Governance and Management Program (AGMP) which was established in 2013 to build the capacity of NT Aboriginal organisations.

The evaluation was conducted in the second half of 2022 and was led by former Senior Research Fellow Danielle Campell with support from then CHSSC Senior Research Fellow Lisa Denney, Research Associate Marlkirdi Napaljarri Rose and an independent researcher Louise Stanley who completed a research thesis with the CHSSC in 2021.

The final evaluation report can be found here.

The CHSSC was engaged by the Northern Institute at Charles Darwin University in 2021-2022 to help develop a monitoring and evaluation framework for the Northern Territory Government (NTG) Remote Engagement and Coordination Strategy (RECS).

The RECS aims to improve outcomes for Indigenous communities by improving government service coordination and regional and remote engagement with Indigenous people.

The CHSSC drew on existing Northern Institute research and consultation with NTG government staff to draw out differences between NTG staff and remote Indigenous community in regard to expectations of RECS and indicators of positive change. This informed an action research project which has enabled each group to separately collect, analyse and use data to assess existing engagement and coordination practice and identify how it can be improved.

This project was led by then Centre Co-Director Linda Kelly and supported by former Senior Research Fellow Danielle Campbell.

The Northern Land Council (NLC) is responsible for assisting Aboriginal peoples in the Top End of the Northern Territory to acquire and manage their traditional lands and seas. This includes supporting the design and delivery of community projects across 18 locations through the Community Planning and Development Program, all of which have a strong focus on maintaining culture, supporting youth and constructing community infrastructure.

In 2021, then CHSSC Co-Director Linda Kelly collaborated with the NLC on trialling and refining three approaches to monitoring and evaluating these Aboriginal-led community development initiatives. These included regular project monitoring and feedback from Indigenous participants and NLC staff, and Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers from Charles Darwin University (CDU). The research explored community perspectives on community development aspirations and outcomes using a ‘Ground Up’ approach and assessing the program’s impact on community wellbeing in one location using an adapted version of the Australian National University’s Mayi Kuwayu Survey.

The work generated interesting and important insights, particularly around the Indigenous Ground Up research approach and the adapted community well-being survey, which were co-presented with CDU researchers at the national Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AITSIS) conferences and in a journal article co-authored with the NLC which won the Australasian Evaluation Society 2022 Publication Award.

The Warlpiri Education and Training Trust (WETT) is a community development project governed and funded by Indigenous people in the Tanami Desert, Central Australia. WETT has been delivering award-winning education and training programs to Warlpiri communities in Lajamanu, Yuendumu, Willowra and Nyirrpi since 2005 with this funded by gold mining royalties earned by those communities.

In collaboration with the Central Land Council, the CHSSC is partnering with WETT to design and support the implementation of the Tracking and Learning project (YWPP).  Over the last five years, CHSSC researchers have worked collaboratively with the Warlpiri traditional owners in the four communities to understand and document their vision for their communities and develop a way of assessing progress that is led by the community members themselves. The results of this tracking and learning enable WETT to keep track of its governance and five major education and training programs, assess progress, capture learning and make changes as needed.

The CHSSC’s work with WETT won La Trobe University’s Research Excellence Award for Industry Engagement and Partnering in 2024.

The work with WETT is currently led by Research Fellow Alex Gyles with support from Senior Research Fellow Mardi Grundy.

The Central Land Council (CLC) represents Aboriginal people in Central Australia and supports them to manage their land, make the most of the opportunities it offers and promote their rights.

The CHSSC has partnered with the CLC for more than 11 years to support the monitoring and evaluation of its community development programs which currently support 35 Central Australian Aboriginal communities. These programs aim to maintain Aboriginal identity, language, culture and connection to country and to improve health, education and employment outcomes. These programs are all funded by Aboriginal people using income from land-use agreements.

In 2021, then CHSSC Co-Director Linda Kelly and CHSSC Senior Research Fellow Danielle Campbell worked with the CLC to redesign the community development program framework and to develop an accompanying monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) strategy. The CHSSC is now partnering with the CLC to support strategy implementation. This includes analysing information collected throughout the year from individual project reports, community-based monitoring, staff reflections and independent evaluations of specific projects. This is supplemented each year by in-depth reviews of selected projects or areas of work. This information and analysis is captured in annual monitoring and evaluation reports written by CHSSC staff.

Since 2021, the CHSSC has also been working with the remote Aboriginal community at Lajamanu in collaboration with the CLC to understand and describe what change is happening in their community. In particular, the project seeks to determine a contextually appropriate measure of wellbeing by drawing out what is required for a good life in the community.

The project then aims to support the community to monitor changes in wellbeing over time using participatory research approaches which promote community ownership of the data and support them to decide any actions to take in response. This includes helping the CLC and other organisations working in Lajamanu to adapt their programs in response to the evidence emerging from the research.

Our work with the CLC is currently led by Research Fellow Alex Gyles with support from Senior Yapa (Aboriginal) Researcher Marlkirdi Napaljarri Rose, Senior Research Fellow Mardi Grundy and Research Associate Louise Stanley.

The CHSSC is partnering with The Asia Foundation (TAF) to undertake impact assessments of two DFAT-funded governance programs – the Subnational Governance program in Nepal and the Nabilan program in Timor-Leste. The resulting case studies will support greater understanding within DFAT and the international development community of the factors that contribute to impactful governance programs across a variety of contexts.

The assessments are being led by CHSSC Senior Research Fellow Thushara Dibley and Adjunct Associate Professor Linda Kelly and local researchers, with support from CHSSC Director Lisa Denney.

The CHSSC is partnering with Bluebird Consultants between 2024 and 2027 to develop DFAT’s evaluation capability and practice.

Bluebird has been contracted by DFAT to support the implementation of DFAT’s Evaluation Improvement Strategy (EIS) which aims to increase both demand and supply for good quality evaluation. This includes work in three domains i.e. building senior leadership demand for good quality evidence; strengthening  evaluation quality, practice and use by staff; and building capability through supporting selected posts and providing a help desk service.

The CHSSC is currently working with Bluebird to help build evaluation capability and practice at the Tonga post. This work is led by Adjunct Research Fellow Allan Illingworth and supported by Senior Research Fellow Mardi Grundy.

The CHSSC is working alongside Parks Australia to develop an effective and sustainable process for monitoring and evaluating the joint management of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory.

Over a period of twelve months, the CHSSC has worked with Aboriginal communities of the park and with other Parks Australia stakeholders to develop and pilot a monitoring and evaluation approach to support the ongoing assessment of stakeholder satisfaction with the joint management of the park.

The approach has been developed, tested and refined in collaboration with Aboriginal researchers, paying particular attention to the perspectives and world views of traditional owners and local Aboriginal community members.

Our work with Parks Australia is currently led by Research Fellow Alex Gyles with support from Senior Research Fellow Mardi Grundy.

The CHSSC provides monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) support to the DFAT-funded Local Leadership and Collective Action Program (LLCAP) which is being delivered by The Voice Inc (TVI) in Papua New Guinea.

The five-year LLCAP program (2022-2026) aims to support a network of leaders and groups acting on some of Papua New Guinea’s most challenging issues. It does this by growing dialogue, knowledge and debate on an issue, then supporting leaders and organisations taking action on that issue and, around those leaders, encouraging a broader coalition of actors to bring increased resources to the reform objective.

The CHSSC works alongside TVI staff to prepare for, facilitate and report on six-monthly pause and reflect sessions and assists TVI to generate and share learning about collective action in Papua New Guinea.

The CHSSC’s contribution to LLCAP is currently led by Senior Research Fellow Mardi Grundy with support from Adjunct Research Fellow Allan Illingworth.

The Warlpiri Education and Training Trust (WETT) is a community development project governed and funded by Indigenous people in the Tanami Desert, Central Australia. WETT has been delivering award-winning education and training programs to Warlpiri communities in Lajamanu, Yuendumu, Willowra and Nyirrpi since 2005 with this funded by gold mining royalties earned by those communities.

In collaboration with the Central Land Council, the CHSSC is partnering with WETT to design and support the implementation of the Tracking and Learning project (YWPP).  Over the last five years, CHSSC researchers have worked collaboratively with the Warlpiri traditional owners in the four communities to understand and document their vision for their communities and develop a way of assessing progress that is led by the community members themselves.

The results of this tracking and learning enable WETT to keep track of its governance and five major education and training programs, assess progress, capture learning and make changes as needed.

The CHSSC’s work with WETT won La Trobe University’s Research Excellence Award for Industry Engagement and Partnering in 2024.

The work with WETT is currently led by Research Fellow Alex Gyles with support from Senior Research Fellow Mardi Grundy.

The CHSSC partnered with The Asia Foundation (TAF) in 2021-2023 to undertake a political economy analysis of three Pacific large ocean states - Nauru, Tuvalu and Kiribati.

The project experimented with adapting political economy analysis frameworks to the Pacific context, resulting in an innovative method more attuned to local realities. The analysis provided a deeper understanding of the complex political, social and economic dynamics of three countries from different perspectives and how these effect their respective development trajectories.

The work was led by then CHSSC Senior Research Fellow Lisa Denney with support from Research Fellow Aidan Craney and in collaboration with Pacific researcher Peni Tawake and local researchers.

The Central Land Council (CLC) represents Aboriginal people in Central Australia and supports them to manage their land, make the most of the opportunities it offers and promote their rights.

The CHSSC has partnered with the CLC for more than 11 years to support the monitoring and evaluation of its community development programs which currently support 35 Central Australian Aboriginal communities. These programs aim to maintain Aboriginal identity, language, culture and connection to country and to improve health, education and employment outcomes. These programs are all funded by Aboriginal people using income from land-use agreements.

In 2021, then CHSSC Co-Director Linda Kelly and CHSSC Senior Research Fellow Danielle Campbell worked with the CLC to redesign the community development program framework and to develop an accompanying monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) strategy.

The CHSSC is now partnering with the CLC to support strategy implementation. This includes analysing information collected throughout the year from individual project reports, community-based monitoring, staff reflections and independent evaluations of specific projects. This is supplemented each year by in-depth reviews of selected projects or areas of work. This information and analysis is captured in annual monitoring and evaluation reports written by CHSSC staff.

Since 2021, the CHSSC has also been working with the remote Aboriginal community at Lajamanu in collaboration with the CLC to understand and describe what change is happening in their community. In particular, the project seeks to determine a contextually appropriate measure of wellbeing by drawing out what is required for a good life in the community. The project then aims to support the community to monitor changes in wellbeing over time using participatory research approaches which promote community ownership of the data and support them to decide any actions to take in response. This includes helping the CLC and other organisations working in Lajamanu to adapt their programs in response to the evidence emerging from the research.

Our work with the CLC is currently led by Research Fellow Alex Gyles with support from Senior Yapa (Aboriginal) Researcher Marlkirdi Napaljarri Rose, Senior Research Fellow Mardi Grundy and Research Associate Louise Stanley.

Between 2018 and 2022 the CHSSC worked with TAFE Queensland to support the implementation of the third stage of the Australia-Pacific Training Coalition (APTC) which is currently scheduled to conclude in March 2025.

The APTC is Australia's flagship Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) program in the Pacific region. The DFAT-funded APTC works collaboratively with national governments, private sector agencies and civil society organisations to provide Australian-standard skills and qualifications to Pacific Islanders in nine Pacific countries.

The CHSSC provided APTC with technical support, coaching and mentoring and two-way learning in a range of areas, including monitoring, evaluation and learning; research design and delivery; partnership brokering and coalition building; and management and leadership.

This included working with APTC staff to develop and implement an APTC-wide Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework, to develop and periodically update country and regional-level theories of change and to support the APTC's leadership team's ongoing reflection and learning processes.

It also included working with the APTC and a Samoan disability advocacy organisation Nuanua O le Alofa to identify lessons learned from these two organisations' work in delivering TVET for persons with disabilities in Samoa. The research recommended a number of practical ways in which APTC and other providers can help make TVET more inclusive, including adjustments to facilities and classroom layout, curricula, course materials and teaching approaches.

The CHSSC’s contribution to the APTC was led by then Co-Director Linda Kelly and Program Manager Yeshe Smith, with support from Senior Research Fellow Danielle Campbell, then Director Professor Chris Roche, Research Fellow Allan Illingworth, Senior Research Fellow Elisabeth Jackson and Research Fellow Aidan Craney.

The CHSSC is one of six providers that have been contracted by DFAT to provide learning and development support to DFAT’s Diplomatic Academy.

The CHSSC is currently partnering with La Trobe’s Education Services Team, the Humanitarian Advisory Group and the Development Intelligence Lab to co-design, build and deliver six training courses for DFAT staff over 2025.

The courses are: i) Introduction to international development (on-line); ii) Being a development manager (on-line); iii) Dimensions of poverty; iv) Core concepts of social change; v) Technology as a driver/disrupter of development; vi) Developmental leadership.

The project is led by CHSSC Director Lisa Denney with support from other CHSSC staff including Adjunct Professor Chris Roche, Senior Research Fellow Thushara Dibley, Senior Outreach and Learning Advisor Chris Adams and Research Assistant Serena Ford.

In 2022-23, the CHSSC partnered with the University of Birmingham (UoB) to design, build and deliver a five-module face-to-screen course on developmental leadership for DFAT staff working at post and in Canberra.

The course content drew on the research produced by the Developmental Leadership Program over the last decadeEach module included pre-reading/watching/listening resources, an interactive seminar and guest speakers, as well as follow up one-on-one and group mentoring.

The project was led by the CHSSC's then Senior Research Fellow Lisa Denney with support from Senior Outreach and Learning Advisor Chris Adams, then PhD scholar Ujjwal Krishna and Research Assistant Serena Ford.

Since 2022, the CHSSC has partnered with The Asia Foundation's governance team to jointly design and deliver regular political economy analysis training for DFAT staff.

A range of training offerings introduce learners to what PEA is and why it is valuable; the core concepts of a PEA framework and how it can assist in more politically sound development programming.

The CHSSC’s contribution to this project is led by the CHSSC’s Director Lisa Denney.

The CHSSC also runs political economy analysis training for a range of organisations and development programs, tailored to their work and context.

In 2021-2022, the CHSSC partnered with the BHP Foundation to co-design, build and deliver a ten-module course on Enabling Transformational Change for the Foundation’s program and operational staff.

The course addressed how social change happens and the implications for both development practice and for leading and managing organisations, coalitions and alliances.

Each module included pre-reading/watching/listening resources, an interactive seminar with inputs from CHSSC staff and from guest speakers and follow up one-on-one and group mentoring.

The project was led by then CHSSC Director Professor Chris Roche with support from then Senior Research Fellow Lisa Denney, Senior Outreach and Learning Advisory Chris Adams.

In 2016-2017, the CHSSC partnered with the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) to co-design and deliver a 12-module professional development program for emerging leaders from Australian-based international development agencies.

The course included three units: i) understanding what social change and how it happens; ii) how to design, implement and evaluate programs in ways that address complexity and enable learning and adaptation; and iii) exploring how organisations adapt their structure, culture, ways of working and performance management and measurement in light of the changing and uncertain world in which they operate.

Each unit was delivered over six to 12 weeks using a mix of interactive face-to-face seminars, small group work, work-place based projects and mentoring. Forty-five people from 26 organisations participated in the program.

The design and delivery of the program was led by then CHSSC Director Professor Chris Roche and then CHSSC Co-Director Linda Kelly.