David studied at the University of Melbourne and later completed a Masters’ Degree in Public Policy and Management (MPPM) at Monash University.

On 1 July 2008 David Feeney commenced his term as a Senator for Victoria.

David was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Defence on 14 September 2010 in the first ministry of Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and he was reappointed to this role in the second Gillard ministry. He maintained this position in the reshuffle when Rudd regained the Prime Ministership in June 2013.

As Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, David’s responsibilities included ADF Reserves, ADF force structure (especially Plan BEERSHEBA in the Army), the Pacific Maritime Security Plan (PMSP) and liaison with Pacific Island Countries, participating in the first meeting of South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting (SPDMM) in Tonga. Feeney also commissioned the Department of Defence workforce review, Plan Suakin, in 2010.

David commissioned the report into Unresolved Recognition for Past Acts of Naval and Military Gallantry and Valour, and was responsible for the Australian Government’s Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal.

David was elected to the House of Representatives as the Member for Batman in 2013. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten appointed Feeney as Shadow Minister for Justice and Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence. After 1 July 2014 the portfolio of Veterans Affairs and Centenary of ANZAC were added to his responsibilities.

In 2016 David was re-elected as the Member for Batman. David was not re-appointed as a Shadow Minister. As an MP, Feeney was a regular commentator on strategic and defence matters, a regular contributor to ADM magazine, and served as Deputy Chair of the Defence Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (JSCDFAT).

Throughout his Parliamentary career, David was a keen supporter of the ADF Parliamentary Program. As both Parliamentary Secretary for Defence and later as a Shadow Minister and MP, David travelled extensively to visit ADF operations and exercises in Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf, PNG, and throughout the South Pacific.

David was a contributing author in Peter J Dean, Stephan Fruhling and Brendan Taylor (eds.), Australia’s American Alliance (Melbourne University Publishing, Carlton) and in Tom Frame (ed.), The Long Road. Australia’s Train, Advise and Assist Missions (UNSW Press, Sydney).

On 1 February 2018 David Feeney resigned from the House of Representatives.

David is married to Liberty Sanger, Principal Lawyer and Board member at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, and they are parents to Ned.