David Knight was appointed as IOM Chief of Mission for Australia and Coordinator for New Zealand in October 2024.

Mr. Knight has over 30 years international experience promoting migration governance and the protection of migrants through his work with IOM and the Australian Government.

He has had permanent assignments in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Switzerland (HQ) with short term deployment for expert missions to over 25 countries in five continents.

Initial work included refugee states determination, the investigation of irregular migration including people smuggling and trafficking in Southeast Asia, entry policy and detention practices.

He initiated the ongoing partnerships between IOM and Interpol and the UN Counter Terrorist Executive Directorate on border management and established the CREST program (Corporate Responsibility to Eliminate Slavery and Trafficking) in partnership with the private sector.

Most recently he has led the development of the new IOM Strategic Plan 2024-2028 as the Director of the Office of Strategy and Organizational Performance reporting directly to the IOM Director General. In this role he was also the Chair of the system-wide UN Efficiencies Task Force and the IOM focal point for the MOPAN Assessment and the UKFCDO Central Assurance Assessment.