Nevena and Rachel Payne are joined live on air by, Michelle Reynolds, Director – Advocacy and Policy, Inner Melbourne Community Legal. Michelle Reynolds is the Director of Advocacy and Policy at Inner Melbourne Community Legal (IMCL). In this role, she oversees strategic advocacy and policy development, working extensively with IMCL’s Police Accountability Project.

She is a leading voice on legal reform and social justice issues in Victoria, focusing heavily on systemic police accountability, public housing advocacy, and the rights of marginalised communities.

Police impunity could be collateral damage to IBAC ‘follow-the-money’ reforms

The post Sat, 19th Sept, 2026; Michelle Reynolds, Director, Advocacy and Policy, Inner Melbourne Community Legal appeared first on Saturday Magazine.

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.

Joining us for our weekly political pulse-check is Amy Remeikis, Chief Political Analyst at The Australia Institute and Contributing Editor for The New Daily. Known for cutting straight through Canberra’s noise and spin, Amy is here to break down the latest media culture wars, truth in political advertising, and the policy debates dominating federal parliament. Welcome back to Saturday Magazine, Amy.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has announced plans to curb migration to Australia, reducing numbers to 245,000 this year and 225,000 next financial year. One Nation wants Australia to have 0 net overseas migration for the next three years and then 130,000 after that, and the Coalition wants migration numbers to be between 150,000 to 170,000 people.

Burke wants to increase the value of skilled permanent migration, with housing construction tradespeople to receive the same recognition as those with university degrees. Priority will be given to construction, healthcare, agriculture, fisheries and teaching. International Students will also no longer be able to attach family members to their visas.

For backpackers in Australia, eligibility for a second-year stay will be capped at 45,000 places and applicants will need to complete 88 days of regional work to qualify. For those seeking a third year, it’s six months in the country and only 5,000 places available. UK applicants will not be subject to this restriction because of our Free Trade Agreement with them.

The post Sat, 19th Sept, 2026; Amy Remeikis; Chief Political Analyst, The Australia Institute & Contributing Editor, The New Daily appeared first on Saturday Magazine.