Colin has worked in senior leadership and technical roles in health promotion and public health, at the local, state, national and international levels, over three decades. This followed an earlier career in social planning and community development.

Prior to his retirement from the Victorian Public Service, Colin was the inaugural Chief Preventive Health Officer in the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. 

His career in Victoria followed 12 years as senior adviser in population health and health promotion for the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. In this capacity he helped develop and negotiate a number of major national preventive health initiatives, including those under the Council of Australian Governments Human Capital Agenda. He represented the Australian Minister for Health at the Fifth Global Conference on Health Promotion Bridging the Equity Gap, and contributed to the Mexico Ministerial Statement.

Colin has been a temporary adviser for WHO in non-communicable disease prevention and control, and served as a member of the Editorial Board for Health Promotion International. He was a founding member of the International Society for Equity and Health and is currently a board member of the Journal of Public Health Research and Practice. 

Colin has most recently been working on a number of projects on the wellbeing of future generations and wellbeing measurement, which is a major focus of his role with Monash Sustainable Development Institute.