David Yencken is Professor Emeritus at the University of Melbourne, Patron of the Australian conservation Foundation, convenor of the Australian Collaboration, a collaboration of peak national community bodies, and chair of the Sustainability Program Committee for Australia 21 (concerned with Australia's long term strategic research needs).

He was for six years Chairman of the Australian Heritage Commission and then Secretary for Planning and Environment, Government of Victoria.  he has been a member of the Australian National Commission for UNESCO and has represented Australia twice at World Heritage Committee meetings.  He has been Head of the School of Environmental Planning at the University of Melbourne, President of the Australian Conservation Foundation and a member of the Commonwealth State of the Environment Advisory Council.  He has served on many other government and university bodies.

He has written or edited five books and very many articles.  His most recent books are Resetting the Compass: Australia's Journey towards Sustainability (Yencken and Wilkinson, 2000), Environment, Education and Society in the Asia Pacific (Yencken, Fien and Sykes, 2000) and Young people and the Environment: An Asia Pacific Perspective (Fien, Yencken and Sykes 2002 forthcoming).  He is also the founder and editor of the Tela series devoted to the exploration of the relationship between the environment, economy and society.

Individual awards include the Sidney Luker Memorial Medal (1984), the Sir James Barrett Award (1985), the Alistair Hepburn Award (1996), the Lord Mayor's Prize (City of Melbourne and RAIA 2001) and the Lifetime Achievement Award (RAPI 2001).  These awards were given for notable contributions to planning, urban design, environmental and heritage protection, and the public realm in Australia.