David Austin was admitted as a solicitor in England in 1976, and spent the first five years of his professional life inhouse with computer mainframe house Sperry Univac, first in an international role, based in London, drafting and negotiating major sale and procurement agreements in Europe and Asia, and subsequently in Sydney as part of the senior management team of the Australian and New Zealand arm of the company. After a year in a startup role with an Australian defence aerospace venture David moved to the Northern Territory where he was responsible for energy policy, and oil gas and pipeline regulation and developed the Northern Territory’s groundbreaking mineral royalty regime.

In 1987 David returned to Sydney and re-entered the legal profession, practising in commercial litigation, transactions and business structures, and assisting individuals and families in designing tax effective structures, usually trust based, to transact business, hold and protect assets, guard against family law issues, and ensure orderly succession from one generation to the next.

David now practices from Sydney, in the eastern suburbs, and has continued to develop his interest in trust and estate planning work. David is the Non-Executive Chair [Independent Director] of an ASX listed medical cannabis company and sits on the governing bodies of some charitable entities based in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.