The tour lasted from 19 to 29 October and included visits to Canberra, Australian Capital Territory; Brisbane, Queensland; Melbourne, Victoria; and Perth.

[5] Guy Sebastian headlined the Official Opening in Perth, performing "Agents of Change,"[8][dubious – discuss] a song he wrote especially for the event.

The panel suggested the Commonwealth's relevance was lost and was further decaying due to the lack of a mechanism to censure member countries when they violated human rights or democratic norms.

[12] The failure to release the report, or accept its recommendations for reforms in the area of human rights, democracy and the rule of law was decried as a "disgrace" by former British Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, a member of the EPG, who told a press conference: "The Commonwealth faces a very significant problem.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, former prime minister of Malaysia and chair of the EPG, warned "this CHOGM is expected to deliver meaningful reforms of the Commonwealth.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh skipped the summit in protest against Australia's refusal to sell India uranium as it had not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

When reports suggested that the Commonwealth Secretariat had refused to grant Ansari head of government status and attendant protocol honours, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said that: "In our system, the vice president holds a position of great importance.

[19][20] Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper walked out of the summit during its last day when Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was invited to speak.

He also had threatened to boycott the 2013 CHOGM summit, scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka, if allegations of human rights abuses against the country's Tamil minority were not investigated.