Introduction and Professional Philosophy

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Richard Hendrie is a nationally recognised lived experience leader, accredited social worker and law graduate based in Albury/Bungambrawatha, on Wiradjuri Country in southern New South Wales. In 2025, he was named Albury Citizen of the Year in recognition of his contribution to mental health, healthcare and education.

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Richard's work is grounded in a simple principle: people with lived experience should have meaningful influence wherever decisions about health and human services are made. This extends beyond peer work or consumer representation to governance, policy, strategy, research, service design, delivery, evaluation and system reform.

His professional approach brings together lived experience with social work, law, governance and policy. He believes these perspectives are complementary: lived experience provides knowledge of how systems are actually encountered by people, while professional disciplines provide frameworks for ethics, evidence, accountability and sustainable reform.

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Richard has held senior lived experience leadership and governance roles at state and national levels. He is recognised for his critical and systems thinking and his ability to translate lived experience into practical organisational and policy reform. He has worked with governments, health services, universities, peak bodies and community organisations to improve consumer experience, organisational culture, governance and system performance.

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Lived Experience

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Richard's work is grounded in more than two decades of navigating Australia's mental health and health systems, including an eight-month inpatient admission, involuntary treatment, seclusion and restraint, addiction, homelessness, prolonged unemployment and reliance on the Disability Support Pension.

He was among the early recipients in Australia of ongoing psychedelic-assisted therapy and is partnered by Havic, a psychiatric assistance dog funded through the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

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These experiences give Richard an understanding of health systems that cannot be acquired solely through professional training. They inform his approach to leadership and his belief that lived experience should be recognised not simply as a personal story, but as legitimate expertise capable of improving policy, governance, services and outcomes.

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Why August Hendrie Advisory

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August Hendrie Advisory was founded on the belief that lived experience deserves more than a seat at the table — it deserves genuine influence.

Throughout his career, Richard has observed the gap that can exist between organisational commitments to consumer partnership and what people experience in practice. Co-design can become consultation after key decisions have already been made. Consumer representatives can be asked to endorse rather than shape decisions. Lived experience expertise can be confined to designated roles rather than influencing the broader work of organisations.

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Richard believes lived experience should contribute across the entire system: from the boardroom to the bedside, and from policy development to implementation and evaluation.

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His work therefore focuses on helping organisations move beyond consultation and compliance towards authentic partnership, stronger governance and practical reform. This includes examining not only whether lived experience is present, but whether it has genuine authority, influence and the capacity to change decisions.

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Professional Experience

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Richard has built a career at the intersection of lived experience, health, social work, governance and policy. Beginning in peer work, his experience has expanded across front-line human services, child protection, academic governance, health-system governance, research, co-design, policy development and system reform.

This breadth allows him to understand systems from multiple perspectives: as someone who has relied upon them, worked within them, advised them and participated in their governance.

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Peer work remains an important part of Richard's professional history and philosophy, particularly its principles of authenticity, mutuality, hope and the value of experiential knowledge. However, his work is deliberately broader. His focus is on ensuring lived experience expertise influences the structures, policies and decisions that shape health and human services as a whole.

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Qualifications

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Richard holds qualifications in Law (Juris Doctor, University of Canberra), Social Work (Master of Social Work, Charles Sturt University), Forensic Psychology (Graduate Certificate, Curtin University) and History and Sociology (Bachelor of Arts, Charles Sturt University). He has also undertaken postgraduate study in Health Economics through the University of Aberdeen.

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Richard is a Member of the Australian Association of Social Workers and a Foundation Member of the Australian Association of Peer Workers. His lived experience remains fundamental to how he understands and approaches his professional work.

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Today

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Today, Richard works across mental health, suicide prevention, disability, healthcare and broader systems reform, partnering with governments, health services, universities, peak bodies and community organisations.

His work spans governance, strategy, policy, co-design, research and evaluation, organisational culture, lived experience leadership and service improvement. Across each of these areas, his focus is consistent: ensuring the knowledge of people who experience health and human service systems meaningfully influences how those systems are designed, governed, delivered and improved.

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Ultimately, Richard's work is about connecting lived experience, evidence and professional expertise to create systems that are more accountable, responsive, humane and effective for the people they exist to serve.