Queen Elizabeth II vowed to bring needed relevancy to the Commonwealth in a time of global uncertainty and insecurity as a major meeting of the nations linked to Britain’s former empire opened Friday.

The biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, or CHOGM, being held in the city of Perth in western Australia, will focus heavily on the global economy and human rights issues.

The queen cited financial concerns, food supply insecurity and climate change among key issues she expected the forum to tackle.

“This Commonwealth meeting is, for its part, the perfect opportunity to address these issues and find responses for today’s crises and challenges,” she said in her opening address.

The queen also said the meeting would bring “new vibrancy” to the Commonwealth forum, which will be forced to defend itself against accusations of irrelevancy. A scathing report questioning its effectiveness will be presented to Commonwealth leaders during the summit.

All nations represented at the forum are former British colonies, except for Mozambique and Rwanda. The Commonwealth is made up of 54 countries, although the military-ruled Fiji was suspended from the bloc over its failure to hold early democratic elections.

The opening ceremony featured traditional Aboriginal dancing and a performance of Australia’s national anthem. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard welcomed the crowd, and also cited economic concerns and food security as key issues in her address.

“How do we best pursue our timeless values in a world of change?” Gillard said. “Let us make CHOGM 2011 memorable for answering this question. Memorable for being the meeting that gave the Commonwealth the direction it needed at a time of global uncertainty and risk.”