One story that particularly sticks in David's mind is the plight of Bali's mentally ill, who were being kept chained up in appalling conditions by their families.
He followed the work of determined psychiatrist Dr Luh Ketut Suryani, who was giving them proper treatment for the first time.
David's initial report was from May 2009, but when he returned for Dateline in March 2010, he couldn't believe the difference in the people he'd met.
And in Dateline's 30th anniversary special, David talks about his story Four Days in Dili, in which he has to take cover as a gunfight rages around him.