Sat, 19th Sept, 2026; Rachel Payne MLC, Legalise Cannabis Victoria Upper House, MP for South-Eastern Metropolitan Region
Joining Nevena as co-host this week, live in the studio this morning is Rachel Payne, Legalise Cannabis Victoria MP for the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region. Beyond her leading advocacy on drug policy reform, Rachel has been a persistent parliamentary voice calling for greater government integrity, the ending of internal police self-investigations, and urgent support for Victoria’s overburdened justice system—including our volunteer Justices of the Peace. Good morning, Rachel, and welcome back to Saturday Magazine on JOY.
IBAC Reform & Police Misconduct Oversight
Victoria’s anti-corruption framework currently sets a high legal bar for IBAC to investigate misconduct. Historically, over 95% of complaints made to IBAC regarding Victoria Police are referred back to Victoria Police internal affairs (Internal Integrity Command). In 2023, IBAC commenced independent investigations into just 23 out of over 4,000 allegations.
Rachel introduced the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission Amendment (Functions) Bill 2026 to strip away barriers that force IBAC to bounce complaints back to the police force. She has also pushed to expand IBAC’s powers to cover broader misconduct, follow-the-money powers, and hold public hearings without extreme statutory restrictions.
Systemic Misuse of LEAP: Payne has previously highlighted instances where police officers inappropriately accessed the Law Enforcement Assistance Program (LEAP) database to stalk or harass victim-survivors, arguing that independent oversight is essential to ending systemic abuse.
The State of Victoria’s Justices of the Peace (Honorary Justices)
The Crisis: Victoria has a severe shortfall of active Justices of the Peace (JPs) compared to other states. Victoria has under 4,000 registered JPs (with fewer than 2,000 actively operating), whereas states like Queensland and NSW maintain tens of thousands.
Public Impact: JPs provide essential, free volunteer services—witnessing statutory declarations, affidavits, and certifying legal documents. The severe shortage in growth corridors like the South-Eastern suburbs leaves vulnerable community members, elderly residents, and people without regular internet access struggling to execute legal documents.
Parliamentary Action: Payne sponsored petitions in Parliament calling on the Attorney-General to fund and reform the Honorary Justice Services Support unit to prevent the collapse of the volunteer JP network.
The post Sat, 19th Sept, 2026; Rachel Payne MLC, Legalise Cannabis Victoria Upper House, MP for South-Eastern Metropolitan Region appeared first on Saturday Magazine.