David Mickler is Dean Global, Africa & Founding Director, Centre for Australia-Africa Relations, in the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Global, and an Associate Professor of International Relations in the Faculty of Humanities, at Curtin University, Perth. 

He is the Co-Chair of the flagship Australia Africa Universities Network (AAUN), and he co-convenes the AAUN Emerging Leaders in Australia-Africa Diplomacy (ELAAD) program. He also convened the Australia-Africa Literacy program for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Diplomatic Academy in Canberra. 

A/Prof. Mickler is a Future Africa Visiting Fellow at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, a Research Affiliate in the Department of Diplomacy and International Studies at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).  

He also serves as the Australian Representative to the Indian Ocean Rim Association Academic Group (IORAG) and convenes the annual IORA collaborative regional short course International Relations in the Indian Ocean Region. He is the Founder and Deputy Co-Chair of the IORA Indian Ocean University Network (UNIOR). 

He is a member of the Advisory Board for the Organisation of African Communities in Western Australia (OACWA), the Africa Network of Critical Security Scholars (ANeCS), and the Women in Security, Peace and Diplomacy Network (WISPAD) in West Africa. 

A/Prof. Mickler was previously Founding Director of the Africa Research & Engagement Centre (AfREC) at the University of Western Australia; Chair of the Faculty Africa Regional Strategy Group at the University of Melbourne; and Inaugural Co-Chair of the Global Africa Group in the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN). He has also been a visiting scholar at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and at the African Union Commission, Ethiopia and South Africa, and has developed academic partnerships in several African countries, including the Africa Green Hydrogen Hub (AGHH) in Kenya. 

A/Prof. Mickler works closely on Africa and Indian Ocean research, teaching, training and external engagement with a range of stakeholders in academia, government, industry and diaspora communities. His books include New Engagement: Contemporary Australian Foreign Policy Towards Africa (2013), The African Union: Addressing the Challenges of Peace, Security and Governance (2016), and Africa and the Sustainable Development Goals (2020). He is a Chief Investigator on the Australian Research Council Discovery Project African Impact in Australia  (2023-26) and Co-Editor on the book project Australia-Africa Science Diplomacy: Collaborative Research, Policy Impact and International Cooperation (under development). 

In 2018 he won the Community Pillar (Excellence in Innovation) Award at the Western Australian African Community Awards; in 2023 he won the Global Award for Leadership at Curtin University; in 2024 he won both the Friend of Zimbabwe Award at the national Australian Zimbabwe Achievers Awards (ZAA) and the Global Impact Award at the Curtin University Global Recognition Awards; and in 2025 he won the Individual Award—Outstanding Contribution to the Advancement of African Australians at the inaugural African Australian Multicultural Celebration hosted by the African Australian Advocacy Centre and the Friend of Africans Award 2025 (Oceania Region) by the World African Researchers, Engineers, Entrepreneurs, and Scientists Alliance (WARESA).