Principal Consultant
Qualifications:
Master of Business Administration
Bachelor of Arts
Diploma of Teaching (Secondary)
Professional Memberships:
Member of the Institute of Public Administration
Fellow of the Australasian Society for the Study of Intellectual Disability (ASSID)
Biography:
Richard currently holds the dual roles of Professorial Fellow in the Department of Disability and Social Inclusion at Flinders University in South Australia and the Senior Practitioner (Disability Services) in the S.A. Department of Communities and Social Inclusion.
Richard was the Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O.) of the Intellectual Disability Services Council Inc. (IDSC) in South Australia from 1984 to 2006. In that position, he was responsible to a Board of Directors for the management of an organisation of over 1300 staff with an annual budget of $55 million. The role involved all facets of management as well as providing leadership to the intellectual disability sector in South Australia including staff training, consultation with clients and their families/advocates, negotiations with Government and non-Government agencies, participation in conferences and media appearances. The organisation had the task of developing services to enable people with intellectual disability to rely less on institutional or special services and more on services that are integrated and local. Significant accomplishments while C.E.O. of IDSC included closing Ru Rua Nursing Home and relocating the residents to community settings with individual supports; development of a new case management system; expansion of case management services to nine country locations; expansion of accommodation and respite services; achieving a better place in the community for people with intellectual disability; creation of a number of new non-government organisations; development of a new, more effective structure; redirection of funds into new services; and reduction in the number of people living at Strathmont Centre through creation of community alternatives and individual supports.
Prior to his appointment at IDSC, Richard was the Director of Resources and Planning, Central Sector, and Divisional Director (Administration & Personnel Services) in the SA Health Commission, Chief Personnel and Training Officer in the SA Hospitals Department, and the Manager of Training at Chrysler Australia Ltd.
Richard has been involved in the development of many agencies and other groups in the disability sector, and is currently a Board member and Treasurer of SACID (the South Australian Council on Intellectual Disability); Board member of Interchange; Director of Minda; and Director and honorary Treasurer, National Council on Intellectual Disability. Past memberships include the Board member of SASRAPID (South Australian Sport and Recreation Society for People with Integration Difficulties); President of NAPCAN SA (National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect); Board member of ASSID (Australasian Association for the Study of Intellectual Disability); Board member of DSSSA (Down Syndrome Society of South Australia); Consultant to Hills Disability Housing; Board member of Arts Access SA; Board member of Skinny Alympics; Council member and former President of SHine SA (Sexual Health information networking and education); and Chair of S.A. Department for Families and Communities’ Legal Issues Committee.
Richard has been a passionate supporter of community integration of people with intellectual disabilities and a prolific writer in the area, presenting some 100 papers and articles on services to people with disabilities. Richard is currently a member of the NDIA’s Intellectual Disability Reference Group.
Richard has been a consultant since 2007, and since that time has undertaken many consultancies of national significance as well as in the states of Victoria and South Australia.