[2] Between 1969 and 1986 Richardson had various positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs, including postings to Kenya, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

In 1990-91, Richardson was seconded to Prime Minister Bob Hawke's office where he served as Chief of Staff.

Richardson was Australian Ambassador to the United States of America (2005–2010) and Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2010–2012).

In addition to Linfox, Richardson currently serves on the Boards of The National Capital Authority, Vault Cloud,[9] The Australian Wildlife Conservancy, The Canberra Raiders NRL Club and is Chair of StarFlight Victoria.

[citation needed] Richardson is married to Betty, a real estate agent, and has two children, Mark and Natalie.

He said he now supported calls for the establishment of a Commonwealth Integrity Commission to restore public trust, in part because ministerial staffers had been excluded from being investigated by many inquiries.

He supported Australia becoming a republic because he believed that a head of state should not be foreign, and was opposed to the ban on Catholics becoming monarch.