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HomeAuthorsRoger Chao

Articles by Roger Chao

About Roger Chao
Roger Chao writes across the major debates shaping contemporary Australia, examining political conflict, social change, cultural tension, and the policy choices that define national life. His work draws on a wide constellation of ideas, disciplines, and global perspectives to illuminate the deeper patterns beneath the headlines. Roger’s commentary connects immediate events to larger social currents, offering analysis that challenges orthodoxies, reframes familiar debates, and encourages a more reflective public conversation. His writing is guided by a belief that ideas matter, not as abstractions, but as forces that shape how societies understand themselves and decide their futures.
Family violence is unacceptable message on gradient background.
AIM Extra

The room where the lawyer knows your name

10 February 2026 Roger Chao 4
What follows is a fictional account of sitting in at consultations a community legal centre. I didn’t actually sit in on any of these consultations due to confidentiality/sensitivity, but have spoken to many community lawyers […]
Medicare card close-up with green design.
AIM Extra

The Day My Medicare Card Saved My Life

2 February 2026 Roger Chao 6
I’m an avid trail runner, having done a number of ultra marathons in my time. The below stems from an experience I once had following one of my early ultra marathons – my first real […]
Crowded train platform at sunset.
AIM Extra

Platform 1 at 6:12am

1 February 2026 Roger Chao 4
Platform 1 at 6:12am has a particular kind of light. Not the golden, romantic light of postcard mornings, but the thin, undecided light that hasn’t committed to being day yet. The sky is often the […]
Child looking at closed playground sign.
AIM Extra

The Day the Slide Broke

31 January 2026 Roger Chao 2
The day the slide broke, it felt, absurdly, disproportionally, like the end of something. It wasn’t a dramatic break. No screaming child. No ambulance. No headline. It was just a council park on an ordinary […]
Lifeguard watching over busy swimming pool.
AIM Extra

The Deep End and the Shallow Bits

30 January 2026 Roger Chao 7
The first thing I remember is the smell. Chlorine, yes, sharp and medicinal, like a promise that the water won’t kill you. But also, sunscreen warmed on skin, hot concrete, wet towels, the faint sweetness […]
Children looking confused with question marks.
AIM Extra

Standing in Front of a Painting I Didn’t Understand

29 January 2026 Roger Chao 1
The first time I stood in front of a painting I didn’t understand, I felt something close to embarrassment, an embarrassment so ordinary it was almost invisible. I was on a school excursion. We’d been […]
Historical painting of flag raising by shore.
AIM Extra

*&^%$#@!  /  * Day

25 January 2026 Roger Chao 23
In late January the country performs a small miracle of selective attention. We turn up the music, we pull a plastic chair into the shade, we talk about how lucky we are; we feel, many […]
Man impatiently knocking on toilet door.
AIM Extra

The Librarian’s Cousin – The Public Toilet

24 January 2026 Roger Chao 8
I once believed, naively, that adulthood would be defined by grander thresholds. Love, perhaps. Or grief. Or some moment of professional arrival, a door opening, a hand extended, a sentence beginning with; “We’d like to […]
Forest fire with glowing orange sky.
AIM Extra

The Voice on the Radio When the Sky Turned Orange

23 January 2026 Roger Chao 3
Having been involved with numerous community recovery committees, emergency management boards and committees, and bushfire preparedness, response, relief, and recovery organisations, as well as having living in bushfire prone areas for most of my adult […]
People standing in line at a bank.
AIM Extra

Centrelink as a frontline human contact point for the most vulnerable

22 January 2026 Roger Chao 11
Whilst it was quite some time ago that I first experienced being a Centrelink “customer”, I still remember the sight, the smell, the atmosphere, and the feelings of that visit. I didn’t expect the shame […]
People at a needle exchange service counter.
AIM Extra

The Needle Exchange

21 January 2026 Roger Chao 3
I worked for some time in harm reduction policy. I recall my first few weeks in the office, not having a clear understanding of the work that happened in needle syringe exchanges and more so, […]
Elevator with out of order sign.
AIM Extra

The View from the Fourteenth Floor

20 January 2026 Roger Chao 10
Having done a lot of work in social housing high-rises in Melbourne over the years in various guises, as well as having visited friends who lived in the towers, I have come to understand and […]
Woman sitting on bed, looking pensive.
AIM Extra

It’s Not “Just Bad Periods”

18 January 2026 Roger Chao 5
I had a friend (name changed) who suffered from horrible endometriosis for years, battling not just the disease itself, but also the social stigma, denial from medical practitioners and the system. On the outside, Claire […]
Two people drinking coffee in break room.
AIM Extra

Living in the Visitors’ Kitchen

17 January 2026 Roger Chao 2
It’s past midnight, and the visitors’ kitchen is doing what it always does – holding up the parts of the health system that don’t fit on any brochure. The microwave hums like a tired appliance […]
Cyclist delivering food on sunny street.
AIM Extra

Delivering in 43 Degrees

16 January 2026 Roger Chao 2
It’s the kind of day where the air feels thick before you even step outside. The morning forecast is already grim – heat building fast, a high in the forties, overnight temperatures that barely count […]

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