Marg O'Donnell was director general of three state government departments in Queensland: Aboriginal Affairs, Equity and Fair Trading, and the Arts.

She is currently Chair of Legal Aid Queensland, the Griffith University Law School Visiting Committee, and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. She is Deputy Chair of the Board of the National Breast Cancer Network of Australia, and a member of the Playing Australia Committee.

Apart from a two year stint in Victoria as the state's
first Legal Ombudsman, she has lived in Queensland
all her life.