Dr Richard Matthews is a forensic scientist and engineer specialising in digital, media, and computer forensics. His professional work focuses on the examination, validation, and interpretation of digital evidence in investigative and legal contexts, with particular emphasis on evidentiary provenance, integrity, and the limits of inference that can be drawn from technical artefacts.
Dr Matthews holds a PhD in digital forensics and a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical and Electronic). His doctoral research examined sensor pattern noise and image provenance, contributing to methods for assessing source attribution and image authenticity. This work sits within a broader practice encompassing image, video, and audio forensics, including compression artefact analysis, manipulation detection, reconstruction, and the assessment of synthetic and algorithmically generated media.
A substantial component of Dr Matthews’ practice involves computer and operating system forensics. He conducts examinations of desktop, mobile, and cloud-based systems, including file system analysis, artefact recovery, metadata examination, timeline construction, and interpretation of operating system and application behaviour. His work routinely involves correlating low-level system artefacts, logs, and application data to establish context, sequence of events, and evidentiary consistency.
Dr Matthews regularly undertakes forensic analysis of social media platforms and online services. This includes examination of platform-specific data structures, message and media artefacts, metadata fields, account activity, and content dissemination pathways. His work considers both the evidentiary characteristics of platform data and the forensic implications of platform design choices, data retention policies, and algorithmic mediation.
In addition to casework, Dr Matthews provides expert opinion and testimony in matters involving digital and media evidence. His work includes preparation of expert reports, evaluation of competing expert methodologies, and explanation of technical findings to courts and tribunals. He places particular emphasis on articulating uncertainty, alternative explanations, methodological limitations, and error sources inherent in digital forensic analysis.
Dr Matthews also undertakes applied analytical and intelligence-related work concerning the use of digital data within institutional and investigative systems. This includes analysis of decision-making under uncertainty, systemic failure modes, and the interaction between technical outputs, organisational incentives, and legal thresholds. His work in this area is concerned with preventing the misapplication or over-interpretation of technical evidence.
Alongside forensic analysis, Dr Matthews designs and develops software used in forensic and analytical workflows. This includes data processing pipelines, forensic tooling, and AI-assisted systems for media analysis and evidentiary triage. He applies machine learning and artificial intelligence conservatively in forensic contexts, with a focus on validation, reproducibility, interpretability, and auditability rather than automation for its own sake.
In parallel with his technical work, Dr Matthews has significant experience in business operations, governance, and strategic decision-making in technology-led organisations. His work includes the establishment and operation of commercial and research entities, engagement with public and private sector stakeholders, and the management of projects operating under regulatory, contractual, and evidentiary constraints. He applies governance principles to technical systems, with particular attention to risk management, accountability, decision traceability, and the alignment of technical outputs with organisational and legal obligations.
Dr Matthews has taught and contributed to courses in entrepreneurship, innovation, and professional practice, including subjects focused on translating technical capability into operational and commercial outcomes. Through this work, he has engaged with students, researchers, industry partners, and institutions across multiple jurisdictions, and has experience liaising internationally on matters relating to technology development, forensic practice, and applied research. This work has emphasised cross-disciplinary communication, jurisdictional awareness, and the practical realities of deploying technical systems within complex institutional environments.
Dr Matthews is the founder of RHEM Labs Pty Ltd, an applied forensic and research practice operating at the intersection of digital science, law, and emerging technology. Through this practice, he engages with courts, regulators, industry, and research bodies on matters involving digital evidence, forensic methodology, and the downstream legal and societal consequences of technical systems.
Dr Matthews has taught and supervised students in engineering and digital forensics, with teaching focused on technical competence, scientific reasoning, and professional judgment. He contributes to academic and professional discourse through publications, peer review, and service to expert and professional bodies.
Across his work, Dr Matthews applies a systems-engineering perspective to forensic and intelligence problems, treating technology, human behaviour, institutional processes, and legal standards as interdependent components. His professional focus is on ensuring that digital evidence and analytical methods are applied in ways that are scientifically defensible, legally appropriate, and proportionate to the decisions they inform.