Richard Burgess is Head of Commercial Legal and Compliance at Football Australia, where he brings over a decade of experience across sports, corporate and commercial law.
Since joining Football Australia in 2018, he has advised on a wide range of governance, commercial, integrity, regulatory and disciplinary matters—including contract disputes, integrity investigations, and broadcast negotiations. Richard has developed particular expertise in the legal challenges facing sport in respect to intellectual property and image rights exploitation, privacy and data protection, employment, sports wagering and behavioural misconduct. He also contributes to the broader sporting community through his role as a Judicial Committee Member for NSW Rugby Union and as a panel member on Paralympics Australia’s Intentional Misrepresentation Independent Panel.
A long-time ANZSLA member, Richard was part of the Organising Committee for the 2022 Conference in Byron Bay. He is passionate about education in sport and has been a member of Sport Integrity Australia’s Sport Sector Advisory Group on Education since 2023, helping to develop materials and training to upskill athletes, coaches, and volunteers.
Prior to joining Football Australia, Richard worked in the Projects and Resources team at Herbert Smith Freehills. He is admitted to practice in New South Wales and holds a combined Bachelor of Arts (Honours in European Studies) and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Wollongong, with part of his studies completed at l’Université d’Orléans in France.
