Reg Richardson AM, charity fundraiser, grew up in Broken Hill, and left school at fifteen for an office job with the Zinc Corporation mine. Moving to Sydney, he worked for a time with transport company TNT, where he met Greg Poche before both men were fired. Poche went on to found Startrack Express, and became one of Australia's wealthiest men. Richardson became involved with diverse businesses, including information storage and management, service industries, wholesale pharmaceutical distribution, property development and investment. Having persuaded Poche to donate $40 million towards a purpose-built facility for melanoma research, Richardson was appointed the chairman of the Melanoma Institute Australia in 2007. Richardson further encouraged Poche to donate $10 million towards the establishment of the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health at the University of Sydney and together the two men founded the Poche Indigenous Health Network, with research units at Flinders, Melbourne, Western Australia and Queensland universities. A lifelong Catholic and supporter of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Richardson is also a very significant art collector who has served on the boards of the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Art Gallery of NSW Foundation as well as the Mercy Foundation, St Vincent's Hospital and the Ted Noffs Foundation. His own charitable contributions combine with those he has coaxed from others to comprise some $140 million for the public good; now, Richardson's passion is encouraging well-to-do Australians to follow his philanthropic lead.
