Queensland Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall presents a human rights vision for the Games

Queensland’s inaugural Human Rights Commissioner, Scott McDougall, presented his final Address at Parliament House on Monday evening, with a focus on A Human Rights Vision for the Games.

As his seven-year term concludes in October, Commissioner McDougall took the opportunity to transport guests seven years into the future. He presented a vision on how spectators, athletes and journalists from around the world could view Queensland as a world leader in human rights – from the accessibility of venues to the vibrancy and openness of Queensland society and culture at the 2032 Games.

The event was hosted by MC Peter Forday, and ABC’s Ellen Fanning led a Q&A with the Commissioner on key issues raised during his Address.

Commissioner McDougall outlined five actions required for Queensland to make the vision of human rights a reality in 2032:

Embed human rights in the planning and implementation of the Games to showcase a human rights culture alongside our iconic beaches, cultural diversity, and modernised, open democracy.
Share power with First Nations peoples and radically reset its relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Get real about climate change and its impact on human rights, particularly the right to life, with the opportunity that the next seven years provides to set Queensland up as a world leader in carbon abatement and mitigation.
Re-imagine our schools as community hubs and legislate an Education Guarantee to ensure children always remain engaged in education.
Revamp Parliamentary Committees so they are no longer rubber-stamping laws.

One of the key points in the Address highlighted the need to revamp the Parliamentary Committee system to ensure a human rights culture within Queensland’s democracy. In a parliament with only one house, the Human Rights Act and the Committees should play important roles in holding both law makers and the Executive accountable.

Commissioner McDougall noted that the Committee system needs improvement to protect human rights and cited the continuing mistreatment of children inside watch houses as an example of how the legislative process does not to protect human rights.

Solutions for improving parliamentary scrutiny were proposed, such as legislating so that the government majority in parliament do not have automatic voting control over Committee reports providing recommendations to reject or amend proposed laws. This would create a genuine record of scrutiny rather than rubber stamping of legislation.

The increased use of Independent Legal Counsel and other experts would also uplift the quality of Committee deliberations and the Commissioner highlighted how better scrutiny of Covid-19 directives would have improved public confidence in Queensland’s pandemic response and may have even avoided contentious litigation about vaccine mandates.

Throughout the Address, the Commissioner’s vision was clear – that human rights at the heart of the 2032 Games can become a reality for Queensland.

Commissioner McDougall’s seven-year term concludes on 7 October 2025.

- ENDS

Notes to editor

Commissioner's Address is available in full here.
Photos from the Commissioner's Address are available here.

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