Richard Barton, former Director of Engineering at the Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations (FACTS), died on 21 April 2021.

Mr Barton took an active role in many ABU activities and was a member of the ABU Technical Bureau for several years.

He won the ABU Broadcast Engineering Excellence Award in 2004. The award is given annually for outstanding contributions to broadcasting engineering.

He was Director of Engineering at FACTS (now known as Free TV) from 1981 to 2001. He earlier worked as a broadcast engineer at TV stations in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.

Mr Barton’s expertise in the area of digital television standards was critical to Australia’s move from analogue to digital broadcasting.

His skills were internationally recognised in many forums, including being requested by the United Nations International Telecommunications Union to chair the 1999 preparatory meeting for the World Radio Conference in 2000.

Free TV’s Director of Engineering, Roger Bunch, said: “Dick Barton set a great example of the high values for accuracy required in science and technology to ensure standardisation achieved the intended scope and objectives for the end users.

“He will be remembered internationally as an excellent ambassador for Australia in his ITU activities and a dear friend to many in the broadcasting industries in many countries, particularly in the Asia Pacific region.”

Free TV’s Chief Executive Officer, Bridget Fair, said: “Dick Barton loved television and devoted his career to ensuring that every Australian could enjoy a world class service.

“He was a formidable champion for the industry over many years at the national and international level.”