Elected in November 2015 and re-elected in 2018, 2021 and 2024, Richard is Chair of the Board and Nomination and Remuneration Committee.
Richard was the inaugural chair of the Committee for the Hunter from 2019 to 2024 and remains a director. He is a life member of Business Hunter, was director from 2008 to 2018 and president from 2011 to 2014.
Richard is a consultant to Sparke Helmore Lawyers. He is a Conjoint Professor of Practice in the School of Law and Justice at the University of Newcastle. He is a director of Healthy Communities Foundation Australia Ltd (Chair 2019 to 2024) and a member of the Venues NSW Hunter Committee.
In 2018, Richard was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for "significant service to the community of the Hunter, to business development and medical research and to the law".