A former Australian Army officer, David’s career in the Australian Intelligence Corps provided wide-ranging experience and specialist qualifications in the intelligence and security domains. He served at the strategic, operational and tactical levels of command providing advice and support to commanders and decision makers both in Australia and deployed on operational service. The culmination of David’s military career came with his appointment as Commandant of Australia’s Defence Intelligence Training Centre in 2003. With command and management responsibility for 145 military and civilian staff, an operational remit for the provision of all intelligence training within Defence and an annual operating budget of $2.5m, this position represents the pinnacle of achievement for an Australian Intelligence Corps officer. David was awarded a Commander Training Command Commendation for his performance of duty in this role.
Since separating from the Army in 2006, David has established and maintained a successful consultancy focussed on the provision of intelligence and security expertise. Levering his knowledge and experience of working as a member of the Australian Intelligence Community for 30 years, David has provided consultancy services to several major Defence projects. He has also developed and delivered intelligence training to organisations including the Australian Federal Police, Victoria’s Office of Police Integrity and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
David possesses a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the University of New South Wales, a Master of Justice from the Queensland University of Technology and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Queensland in which he researched investigative interviewing skill acquisition, transfer and application in the Queensland Police Service. In recent years he has been engaged by the University to design, develop and teach an undergraduate course in Global Security and Regulation and to design the criminology component of the Master of Cyber Security program. He is currently engaged as a lecturer in Cyber Criminology with research interests in countering the possession, production and distribution of Child Exploitation Material and the use of offensive cyber techniques in law enforcement.
Journal Article: Privacy and hacking powers: is there an implied right to privacy in the use of computer surveillance powers in Australia?
Walker-Munro, Brendan, Ioannou, Ruby and Mount, David (2024). Privacy and hacking powers: is there an implied right to privacy in the use of computer surveillance powers in Australia?. Salus Journal, 12 (1) 1.
Other Outputs: Are we training potential adversaries? Australian universities and national security challenges to education
Walker-Munro, Brendan, Mount, David and Ioannou, Ruby (2023). Are we training potential adversaries? Australian universities and national security challenges to education. Unknown: Unknown.
Conference Publication: Are we training our potential adversaries? Australian Universities, National Security and challenges to cybersecurity education
Walker-Munro, Brendan, Ioannou, Ruby and Mount, David (2023). Are we training our potential adversaries? Australian Universities, National Security and challenges to cybersecurity education. Australian Cyber Conference 2023, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 17-19 October 2023.
Review of the Triage Referral and Investigative Support Tool (TRIST)
(2020–2021) Australian Federal Police
(2019–2020) Australian Federal Police
Development of a new Child Exploitation Material Risk Assessment Tool
(2019) Australian Federal Police
Illicit Drug Trading: A Comparative Analysis of Dark Web and Online Drug Venders' Decision Making
Doctor Philosophy
Walker-Munro, Brendan, Ioannou, Ruby and Mount, David (2024). Privacy and hacking powers: is there an implied right to privacy in the use of computer surveillance powers in Australia?. Salus Journal, 12 (1) 1.
Mount, David and Mazerolle, Lorraine (2021). Investigative interviewing skills in policing: Examining the transfer of training into workplace practices. Policing: An International Journal, 44 (3), 510-524. doi: 10.1108/pijpsm-12-2019-0182
Acquiring core investigative interviewing skills in police academy training
Mount, David and Mazerolle, Lorraine (2021). Acquiring core investigative interviewing skills in police academy training. Policing: a journal of policy and practice, 15 (3), 1-17. doi: 10.1093/police/paab017
Mount, David, Mazerolle, Lorraine, Zahnow, Renee and James, Leisa (2021). Triaging online child abuse material: testing a decision support tool to enhance law enforcement and investigative prioritisation. Policing, 44 (4), 628-642. doi: 10.1108/pijpsm-02-2021-0020
Walker-Munro, Brendan, Ioannou, Ruby and Mount, David (2023). Are we training our potential adversaries? Australian Universities, National Security and challenges to cybersecurity education. Australian Cyber Conference 2023, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 17-19 October 2023.
Walker-Munro, Brendan, Mount, David and Ioannou, Ruby (2023). Are we training potential adversaries? Australian universities and national security challenges to education. Unknown: Unknown.
The hacker strikes back: examining the lawfulness of “Offensive Cyber” under the laws of Australia
Walker-Munro, Brendan, Mount, David and Ioannou, Ruby (2023). The hacker strikes back: examining the lawfulness of “Offensive Cyber” under the laws of Australia.
Miller, Peter, Coomber, Kerri, Ferris, Jason, Burn, Michelle, Vakidis, Thea, Livingston, Michael, Droste, Nicholas, Taylor, Nicholas, Puljevic, Cheneal, de Andrade, Dominique, Curtis, Ashlee, Grant, Kristy, Moayeri, Foruhar, Carah, Nicholas, Jiang. Jason, Wood, Barbara, Mayshak, Richelle, Zahnow, Renee, Room, Robin, Scott, Debbie, Cook, Steffi, Towle, Simon, Regan, Scott, Goold, Lachlan, Mount, David, Rangiah, Lillian, Boubouras, Lauren, Nixon, Bowman, Vayne, Brooke ... Najman, Jake (2019). QUeensland Alcohol-related violence and Night Time Economy Monitoring (QUANTEM): Final Report (April 2019). Geelong, VIC, Australia: Deakin University.
Mount, David John (2018). Skill acquisition, transfer and application: a study of investigative interviewing training in the Queensland Police Service. PhD Thesis, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2018.146
QUeensland Alcohol-related violence and Night Time Economy Monitoring (QUANTEM): Interim report
Miller, Peter, Coomber, Kerri, Ferris, Jason, Burn, Michelle, Vakidis, Thea, Livingston, Michael, Droste, Nicholas, Taylor, Nicholas, Puljevic, Cheneal, De Andrade, Dominque, Curtis, Ashlee, Grant, Kristy, Moayeri, Foruhar, Carah, Nicholas, Jiang, Jason, Wood, Barbara, Mayshak, Richelle, Zahnow, Renee, Room, Robin, Scott, Debbie, Cook, Steffi, Towle, Simon, Regan, Scott, Goold, Lachlan, Mount, David, Rangiah, Lillian, Boubouras, Lauren, Nixon, Bowman, Vayne, Brooke ... Najman, Jake (2018). QUeensland Alcohol-related violence and Night Time Economy Monitoring (QUANTEM): Interim report. Geelong, VIC, Australia: Deakin University.
Review of the Triage Referral and Investigative Support Tool (TRIST)
(2020–2021) Australian Federal Police
(2019–2020) Australian Federal Police
Development of a new Child Exploitation Material Risk Assessment Tool
(2019) Australian Federal Police
Illicit Drug Trading: A Comparative Analysis of Dark Web and Online Drug Venders' Decision Making
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors: