Richard Maude is Executive Director of Policy at Asia Society Australia and a Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute. 

He also serves on the external board advising Australia’s Department of Defence on the implementation of the 2023 Defence Strategic Review. 

Mr Maude writes and comments regularly on Indo-Pacific affairs and Australian Foreign policy for Asia Society. His work has been published in Australia and internationally. Richard came to Asia Society after a 30-year career in the Australian public service, where he held senior foreign policy and national security roles. 

From 2018 to 2019, Mr Maude was Deputy Secretary, Indo-Pacific Group, in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australia’s senior official to the East Asia Summit. 

In 2017, Mr Maude was head of the whole-of-government taskforce which supported the preparation of the Australian Government’s 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper. 

Mr Maude was Director-General of the Office of National Assessments, Australia’s peak intelligence agency, from May 2013 until November 2016. 

Before taking up this position, Mr Maude was the senior adviser on foreign policy and national security issues to Prime Minister Julia Gillard (2010-2013).