Locally led development (LLD) is a policy priority for the Australian aid program. It is widely understood to improve the relevance and sustainability of development outcomes by prioritising the knowledge, legitimacy and networks of local actors. It is also seen as a necessary recalibration of development, shifting power to those most directly affected.
DFAT has introduced a continuum of LLD in the context of development programs, ranging from the consultation of local actors to local actors being primarily responsible. A small subset of Australian aid investments sits at the more ‘advanced’ end of DFAT’s LLD continuum, working directly with local leaders and coalitions to pursue change. These programs do not just deliver through local teams, they also understand change to happen by, and through, local leaders and local change pathways. These programs are participating in the Coalitions and Local Leaders for Change (CALL4Change) Learning Journey, a collaboration between DFAT, six investments across the Pacific and Southeast Asia and La Trobe University’s Centre for Human Security and Social Change.
At a time when the aid program is increasingly pushed to deliver broader foreign policy goals that meet Australia’s national interests, some say there is a risk that locally led approaches are deprioritised. Others argue supporting locally legitimate processes of change may be one of the most effective ways to advance Australia’s interests.
In this context, The Intel asks three CALL4Change programs: Why should Australia invest in local leaders, and what does it take to do this well?
- Guest editor, Lisa Denney, Director, Centre for Human Security and Social Change.
Australia seeks to support partner countries, like the Philippines, achieve a peaceful, resilient, and prosperous future. An essential element is supporting partners to identify and introduce changes that advance these goals. Enabling local leaders and coalitions facilitates co-creation and successful introduction of such changes.
Coalitions for Change (CfC) uses ‘development entrepreneurship’ to work with leaders to identify and introduce policy change. The model guides three questions: which reform should we pursue, how will we identify and introduce it, and who will do it?
Of these, ‘who’ is most critical. As my Dad used to say: “with the right people anything is possible but with the wrong people, nothing is possible.” CfC focuses on four behaviours of leaders:
1. Grit – willingness to persevere with limited resources
2. Confidence – belief and courage to work on difficult development challenges
3. Humility – willingness to listen, be challenged, admit mistakes, share credit
4. Autonomy – desire to be self-directed rather than follow rigid terms of reference
Liberalisation of satellite broadband demonstrates their importance. Satellite broadband was identified in 2016 as a game-changing technology to increase rural internet access. Leaders tried many routes to introduce reform, with many dead-ends. In 2021, a new route and breakthrough emerged through the Covid-19 pandemic, and the tenacity of allies in the medical profession and financial inclusion community who convinced the President to issue the policy.
Humility is the most challenging principle in the development field! For international partners, support requires willingness to listen, identify common concerns, and provide local leaders with “room to maneuver.”
Jaime Faustino is the Strategic Advisor of Coalitions for Change, a partnership of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and The Asia Foundation. Based on his experience of working with Philippine leaders to introduce reforms since the early 1990s, he conceptualised the development entrepreneurship model. He has co-written several books and papers on the model including Built on Dreams, Grounded in Reality: Economic Policy Reform in the Philippines (2011), Development Entrepreneurship: How Donors and Leaders Can Foster Institutional Change (2014), and Thinking and Working Politically in Development: Coalitions for Change in the Philippines (2020). At the Lab, we admire Jaime’s pioneering work in showing how reform really happens, and his commitment to backing local leaders to make it happen.
In Vanuatu, chiefs, church leaders, community leaders, government officers and politicians are not simply ‘stakeholders’ for donor-funded projects – they are knowledge holders, custodians, and drivers of change. By investing in relationships with these local leaders, Australia ensures that its development support is understood, trusted, and translated into locally owned and sustainable outcomes. Meaningful relationships are built on trust and cultural respect. Without fostering authentic relationships – through humility, listening, and contextual flexibility – Australia’s partnerships will have limited impact.
In the experience of the Vanuatu Skills Partnership, transformational change occurs when Australian support is mobilised in ways that amplify the knowledge and solutions that are within local drivers of change. Our program works as a trusted ‘broker’ – we find what is working within local contexts, make it visible, and strengthen the networks and systems for new models of effective service delivery. We walk alongside people, not ahead of them.
Our local staff use their granular understanding of the non-technical blockers of development to achieve impact. For example, by navigating different agendas, interests and personalities at national and sub-national levels, we have supported the transformation of the national skills system. Vanuatu now has decentralised accredited training, due in large part to trusted local staff modelling new ways of delivery, while ensuring local powerholders feel ownership of reforms, incentivising their buy-in.
When communities and powerholders see that Australian support is being delivered through trusted local leadership, it builds stronger relationships between our countries. We feel respected and recognised. The effectiveness of this support is also increased as it is local change-makers who understand, and have the legitimacy to navigate, the complex power dynamics at the root of development blockages.
Ellis Silas is the Director of the Vanuatu Skills Partnership, a nationwide human resource development initiative under the Ministry of Education and Training and the Prime Minister’s Office, supported by the Australian Government. He has been working on VSP for more than a decade, playing a key role in its function to nurture development leaders internally who build coalitions for improved economic and social outcomes. At the Lab, we love Ellis's long-standing work to nurture Ni-Vanuatu leaders who drive change in their own communities and economy.
Women Leading and Influencing (WLI) builds trusted relationships and supports leaders to pursue issues that matter most to them and their communities. By strengthening local leadership, the program helps create sustainable change while deepening Australia's partnerships and influence across the Pacific.
The Australia Awards scholarships are a significant investment in current and future Pacific leaders. WLI extends that through leadership development, coaching, mentoring, networking, targeted funding and opportunities for Pacific scholars and alumni to turn learning into action. Through WLI, women and men across government, civil society and the private sector strengthen their influence and advance solutions to critical development challenges.
As alumni return home, they are applying these skills, networks and relationships to address national development challenges. In 2025, WLI alumni Neelta Goundar and Alumita Lekenaua mobilised 30 fellow alumni to review several pieces of legislation in Fiji, including on Police, Education and Mental Health. Their collective submission to the Fiji Law Reform Commission informed the legislative review process, demonstrating the power of alumni collaboration to influence change.
Supporting leaders effectively means recognising that leadership requires more than technical expertise. Making change happen involves navigating political, social and cultural contexts, building trust, influencing others and bringing people together. WLI therefore offers a flexible menu of support that participants can draw on at different stages of their leadership journey. Someone may benefit from coaching when they return home from study, then later need connections, mentoring or seed funding to pursue a new idea.
While WLI contributes to locally led development outcomes, it also benefits Australia. It fosters networks of Pacific leaders who understand Australia, maintain personal and professional connections, and have positive experiences of Australian support. Most alumni remain actively connected to Australia through professional networks and ongoing collaborations. These relationships contribute to stronger people-to-people links and enduring connections between Australia and the Pacific.
Georgina Cope is Team Leader of Australia Awards Women Leading and Influencing (WLI). She has more than two decades of experience supporting Australian development initiatives across the Pacific and Asia, with specialist expertise in leadership development and locally led change. Georgina has helped shape the design and ongoing evolution of WLI since its inception in 2017. Prior to this, she led the Pacific Leadership Program in Fiji, working alongside Pacific leaders, organisations and coalitions to pursue positive change in their communities, countries and across the region. At the Lab, we admire Georgina's deep commitment to locally led change and her focus on backing women leaders across the region.
