RICHARDSON, Jack Edwin AO (1920-2011)

Modified on Wed, 22 Nov 2017 15:38 by Con — Categorized as: Biography - All, Biography - Collegians in the News 1911-1960, Biography - OGCA Gallery of Notable Old Collegians, Biography - Students, Geelong College, Biography of Law, Medicine, Medical Research and Academia

'Jack' Richardson.

'Jack' Richardson.

RICHARDSON, Professor Jack Edwin AO (1920-2011)


Professor 'Jack' Richardson, barrister, author and academic, was the first Commonwealth Ombudsman from 1977 to 1985.

His diverse career includes the following appointments: Legal Secretary, Constitution Review Committee of the Federal Parliament, 1956-1959; Chief Assistant Executive (Attorney-General's Department), 1960; Member of the Legal Committee of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, 1953-1960; Dean of the Faculty of Law between 1961 and 1972; Robert Garran Professor of Law at ANU from 1961 to 1977. He also found time for a full-time practice at the New South Wales bar in 1974 and 1975. In 1977 he was appointed as the first Commonwealth Ombudsman. Later, between 1990 and 1992, he was ombudsman for Western Samoa.

During this period he was also Visiting Professor International Institute of Air and Space Law, McGill University, Montreal, 1966-1967; Member of the Executive Committee of the International Law Association, Australian Branch, 1973; Chairman, Committee on Legal Education of the Australasian Universities Law Schools Association, 1968-1977; President of AULSA in 1965-1966; Member of the Australian Capital Territory Consumer Affairs Council, 1976-1977; Member, Administrative Review Council of the Commonwealth of Australia; Emeritus Professor, ANU, 1977; Defence Force Ombudsman, December 1983. He has also published about 60 books and publications on trade practices law and Australian federalism. He died at Camden Hospital, NSW on 13 June, 2011.

Jack Richardson attended Camperdown Higher Elementary School before his parents, Ernest Alfred Richardson and May Victoria nee Young of Hampden enrolled him as a boarder from 1935 to 1936 at the Geelong College. In 1936 he was a member of the College 1st Tennis VIII. His brother, Tom Ernest Richardson (1918-2006) was also educated at the College.

In October 2014, 'Jack' Richardson was inducted into the Old Geelong Collegians' Association (OGCA) Notables Gallery at Geelong College.


Sources: Ad Astra Sept 1977; Ad Astra Dec 1984; Obituary-The Age (Melb) 23 June 2011; Obituary-Sydney Morning Herald 15 July 2011. (OGC 1934).