Dr David Birchall is a Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University Law School. His research investigates business-related human rights issues with a focus on socio-economic rights and the marketization of basic needs. His current research focuses on the role of constitutive business law in affecting access to socio-economic rights, and more broadly on understanding the purpose and aims of business law today. He is also interested in climate litigation and human rights due diligence laws.

He has published extensively in the field of business and human rights, including in International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Business and Human Rights Journal, University of California Law Business Journal, and Transnational Legal Theory. He co-edited the Edward Elgar Research Handbook on Human Rights and Business (2^nd edition forthcoming in 2025), and co-edits the Springer book series ‘Business, Human Rights, and the Environment’. He has presented his work at Oxford, Harvard, University of New South Wales, and many other universities worldwide. He completed his PhD at City University of Hong Kong in 2019.