The Commissioner
Scott McDougall commenced as Commissioner on 8 October 2018, when we were still named the Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland. Prior to his appointment he was the Director and Principal Solicitor at Caxton Legal Centre Inc. in Brisbane.
Since admission to legal practice in 1993 he has advocated on behalf of communities and conducted litigation particularly in the areas of discrimination, native title, criminal law, guardianship and coronial inquiries.
Mr McDougall has overseen the design and implementation of numerous legal and social work service programs and was the President of the Queensland Association of Independent Legal Services from 2009 to 2013. He has undertaken several projects facilitating engagement between governments and communities including working with the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council to prepare the Palm Island Future Direction Report (2006) and overseeing the G20 Independent Legal Observers Project (2014).
He holds a Bachelor of Laws from the Queensland University of Technology.
A selection of the Commissioner's speeches and authored articles appear below.
Speeches
- "Women in leadership and the role of affirmative measures" (MS Word Document, 41.8 KB) - speech delivered to the Queensland Public Sector Women in Leadership Summit, 28 February 2024
- "More than a word: Reconciliation means action" - speech delivered to the QUT Law Society for Reconciliation Week in June 2021; download as a PDF (PDF File, 335.8 KB) or download as a Word document (MS Word Document, 245.5 KB) .
- "Human rights are essential" - speech delivered at Human Rights Day event co-hosted by Caxton Legal Centre and Queensland Law Society, 9 December 2020; download as PDF (PDF File, 426.1 KB) or Word document (MS Word Document, 245.0 KB) .
- Speech delivered to Youth Advocacy Centre AGM, 25 November 2020; download as PDF (PDF File, 266.7 KB) or Word document (MS Word Document, 247.7 KB) .
- "Human Rights Act 2019: A review of its first year" - Derek Fielding Memorial Lecture, presented by Queensland Council of Civil Liberties, 14 October 2020; download as PDF (PDF File, 393.3 KB) or Word document (MS Word Document, 254.9 KB) .
- "Making rights real: The promise and potential pitfalls of the Queensland Human Rights Act 2019" - Bond University Twilight Seminar Series, 6 February 2020; download as PDF (PDF File, 441.3 KB) or Word document (MS Word Document, 265.1 KB) .
Articles
- "Harmony Day should not be used to sweep racism under the rug" - Brisbane Times, 21 March 2021.
- "Combatting racism starts with education" - State Library of Queensland blog, 21 March 2021.
- "Australia's Groundhog Day of missed opportunity cannot go on forever" - 25 January 2021: download as PDF (PDF File, 329.6 KB) or as a Word document (MS Word Document, 243.0 KB) .
- "2020: the perfect year to introduce a Human Rights Act" - QLS Proctor, 8 December 2020.
- "We must ensure human rights don't become collateral damage of COVID-19" - InQueensland, 3 April 2020.
- "Changes to religious freedom laws threaten society" - Courier Mail, 25 December 2019.