“I am energised by the opportunity to step into this new role that presents a challenge while allowing me to draw on my extensive experience,” she said.
In the final weeks of his term as commissioner, McDougall said his office did not have enough power, pointing to its inability to take legal action over children being held in police watch houses.
“I visited a watch house where I saw a 17-year-old who had been detained for more than three weeks in the watch house without any access to sunlight, no access to their family, no schooling,” he said in an interview with ABC shortly before the end of his term.
Leaving the role while children still spent long periods in watch houses was his biggest regret, he said.
On Thursday morning there were eight children in watch houses around Queensland, with three days the longest stay.
The government said Platz was chosen after a merit-based selection process, and will begin her five-year term on January 30, taking over from acting commissioner Catherine Scott.
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