Roly Sussex is a specialist in language, communication and culture, and health communication. He was Professor of Applied Language Studies at the University of Queensland from 1989 until 2010. Before that he taught Linguistics and Russian at the University of Reading (UK) and Monash University in Melbourne, and was the foundation professor of Russian at the University of Melbourne from 1977 to 1989. 

He is currently Research Professor in the Institute for Teaching and Learning Innovation, and in the School of Languages and Cultures, at the University of Queensland. Since "retiring" he has become involved in social issues as a public intellectual.

His current research is focused on language, culture and society, technology, and, more recently, pain and health. He is a member of the PainLang Research Group at the University of Queensland, which is investigating the use of language in the diagnosis, treatment and management of pain. 

When he is not engaged in work, he works on his garden and acreage, rides road bikes and mountain bikes, and indulges his passion for classical music. 

He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2012, and was a made a Chevalier des Palmes Académiques by the French Government in 2017, and a member of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020.