Politics Done Different
ABOUT RACHEL PAYNE
Rachel Payne is a rarity in Australian politics.
She grew up in a working-class family in Newcastle, left home at sixteen, and supported herself through university to earn a Master of Public Policy. She has firsthand experience relying on government welfare, housing and legal services — and has never forgotten it.
Since she was elected in 2022 to the Victorian Parliament with Legalise Cannabis for the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region, Rachel has built a reputation as one of the Legislative Council’s most effective crossbenchers.
In 2025, she was nominated for the McKinnon Emerging Political Leader of the Year award, in recognition of her track record achieving a range of legislative change for her community.
She stands in parliament for community, compassion and common-sense policy solutions — and plans to do so again.
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
- Introduced a Private Members Bill on personal cannabis use that was subsequently referred for review and report – keeping legislation firmly on the parliamentary agenda.
- Secured legal protections for medicinal cannabis patients’ driving rights.
- Raised cannabis law reform repeatedly in Parliament, winning government support to investigate cannabis cautions instead of arrests.
- Led modernisation of industrial hemp regulation, introducing standalone hemp legislation after a parliamentary inquiry.
- Introduced legislation to decriminalise begging, in response to the tragic death of family violence victim Jessica Geddes. The Victorian Government passed this amendment in September 2026, making Victoria the fifth Australian jurisdiction to adopt this policy.
- Advocated for expansion of the Alexis Family Violence Response Model statewide, which embeds specialist family violence workers in police units. This reduces victim risk and can rehabilitate offenders.
- Rachel secured a landmark win for victim-survivors of initutional child abuse through vicarious liability legislation.
- Introduced the IBAC Functions Bill 2026, to restore IBAC’s power to independently investigate police misconduct. This bill has the support of victim-survivors, academics, legal professionals, the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and community legal centres statewide.
STILL TO DO
Next year marks the 100-year anniversary of cannabis prohibition. A century of failed policy is enough! Cannabis is still the most widely consumed “illegal substance” in Australia, and politicians are blind to the hypocrisy of legalised alcohol, tobacco and gambling while criminalising a plant.
Rachel came to Parliament in 2022 promising sensible cannabis law reform and to be a voice for Victorians who are too often left behind. Four years on, cannabis remains criminalised and far too many Victorians are still left behind.
Rachel will not stop fighting to “relax the laws”.
"I came to this place four years ago to make change — and I have. Real change. But there is so much more to do. I'm running again because I'm not finished — and neither are the people I represent."
“MPs should reflect the communities they represent – it was one of the many reasons I put my hand up to get involved. We need more working-class people with real world experience in the halls of parliament and with seats at the table where decisions are made” — Rachel Payne MP
DONATE TO RACHEL'S CAMPAIGN
VOLUNTEER FOR RACHEL