Joining Macca and Paul live on air, is a true powerhouse in the global movement for equality. A former head of global litigation for Apple, she went on to serve nearly a decade as the Executive Director of the Human Rights Campaign—quadrupling its size and turning it into the United States’ premiere LGBTQIA+ civil rights organization.

She has navigated the highest corridors of corporate and political power to fight for our rights, and today she remains one of America’s sharpest minds on workplace equality, constitutional freedom, and civil rights strategy. Welcome to Saturday Magazine, Elizabeth Birch.

Workplace Equality & DEI Backlash

At events like the Picturing Equality Symposium, you emphasize corporate responsibility. How are American companies holding the line on LGBTQIA+ inclusion in an era where DEI programs are being actively targeted by conservative legal activists?”

“When you led litigation at Apple in the 90s, corporate advocacy was radical. Is the current corporate pullback just a temporary trend, or a long-term threat to workplace safety?

In Australia some organisations are noticing a pull-back in public support – how do you keep corporate engagement up in tough times?

Press Freedom & Constitutional Safeguards

• “With media outlets being stripped of access or threatened by political figures, do you feel the average American realises how tied LGBTQIA+ rights are to a free, independent press?”
• “Do you see a path for legal challenges against these press exclusions under First Amendment law, or have the courts shifted too far right to offer protection?”
• Do you see light at the end of the tunnel?

Healthcare Bans & The Resistance

• “The North Dakota Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the youth healthcare ban is a devastating blow. Where do families and advocates turn when state supreme courts shut the door on constitutional appeals?”
• “Given the wave of state-level restrictions, where are you seeing the most effective resistance—is it in federal court battles, ballot initiatives, or grassroots mutual aid?”

The post Sat, 26th, Sept, 2026: Elizabeth Birch; Fmr Executive Director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) (1995–2004); fmr Worldwide Dir. of Litigation at Apple Computer. appeared first on Saturday Magazine.

Macca and Paul are in the hosting seats this week as they discuss the news, views, reviews of the week; leading up to the 2026 Grandfinal; what’s coming up on this week’s programme, Fringe festival and so much more.

The post Sat, 26th, Sept, 2026: Weekly Wrap Up with Macca and Paul. appeared first on Saturday Magazine.

Joining us now on Joy 94.9’s Saturday Magazine is Anna Brown, CEO of Equality Australia.

Every four and a half years, Australia’s human rights record is put under the microscope by the international community at the United Nations in Geneva. Following our latest Universal Periodic Review, member states issued over 300 recommendations to strengthen human rights in Australia—including nine specifically designed to protect LGBTIQ+ people.

However, the Federal Government has formally responded by rejecting every single one of those nine LGBTIQ+ recommendations. LGBTIQ+ Australians were the only marginalised group where not a single recommendation was accepted. Anna, welcome back to Saturday Magazine.”

On 25 June 2026, Equality Australia issued a statement criticizing the Federal Government’s response to Australia’s fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council. The government rejected all nine recommendations specific to LGBTIQ+ rights—making LGBTIQ+ Australians the only marginalized group to have 100% of its dedicated recommendations declined.

Total Recommendations Received: 332 recommendations from over 120 member states.

LGBTIQ+ Specific Recommendations: 9 total.

Acceptance Rate for LGBTIQ+ Recommendations: 0% (0 accepted out of 9).

Comparative Status: Recommendations were accepted or noted across all other categories, including First Nations Australians, women, children, people with disabilities, older people, and refugees.

The post Sat, 26th, Sept, 2026: Anna Brown, CEO, Equality Aust, Government rejection of all UN recommendations on improving LGBTQIA+ rights   appeared first on Saturday Magazine.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed a deeply concerning world-first: an artificial intelligence agent operated by OpenAI autonomously bypassed security measures to gain unauthorised access to Australian government data, including a Medicare statistical portal.

While authorities assure us that no personal medical records were accessed, the idea of an AI bot ‘refusing to take no for an answer’ and breaking into public systems raises massive red flags about cybersecurity and tech accountability.

To break down how this happened and what it means for our digital safety, we’re joined by Professor Nigel Phair from the Department of Software Systems and Cybersecurity at Monash University. Welcome to Saturday Magazine, Professor.

The post Sat, 26th, Sept, 2026: Prof Nigel Phair Dpt. of Software Systems & Cybersecurity, Dept of Information Technology, Monash Uni appeared first on Saturday Magazine.

Spring in Melbourne means one thing: the city is about to get louder, weirder, and infinitely more creative. The 2026 Melbourne Fringe Festival kicks off next Tuesday, September 29th, bringing three massive weeks of theatre, cabaret, circus, and comedy across more than a hundred venues.

This year’s theme is ‘Turn Towards the Heat’—a challenge to lean into artistic risk, lean into raw ideas, and step away from safe, cookie-cutter entertainment.

QFWFQ by Gregory Nussen

Winner of ‘Best Solo Show’ and the ‘Sydney Fringe Exchange Award’ at the 2025 Hollywood Fringe, with an additional four nominations including a BroadwayWorld LA nod for ‘Best Solo Show’.

A surrealist labyrinth that stretches time and space. Inspired by Italo Calvino’s ‘If On a Winter’s Night’ a Traveler, this razor-sharp, absurdly funny and deeply personal show breaks all genres and has no fourth wall. Join Gregory Nussen as they rummage through the power and peril of storytelling, growing up Jewish and queer, the genocide in Gaza, and the art that saves your life. QFWFQ neither begins, nor ends.

Lord of the Flies

It was a game… wasn’t it? A gripping, contemporary encounter with a timeless story.

In this fresh, highly physical staging of Nigel Williams’ adaptation of Lord of the Flies, award-winning director Steven Mitchell Wright (MEDEA: Out of the Mouths of Babes, Ghosts) leads an ensemble of performers through a visceral retelling of William Golding’s literary classic. Play turns to ritual. Loyalty becomes leverage. Fear redraws the map. In creating their own world, they expose the truths beneath ours: the impulses we carry, the systems we defend, and how little it takes to break them. Bold, thrilling and deeply human, this production invites us to consider what rises when structure falls away. It asks us what happens when leadership slips into tyranny, fears birth myths, and the line between civilisation and brutality dissolves underfoot. A gripping, contemporary encounter with a timeless story, one that speaks to the world we live in now as urgently, if not more urgently, than when it was first written.

SLUGS

It’s about nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. We promise.

An electro-punk concert, a play, a clown show, and a basement puppet nightmare all rolled into one from award-winning performance/comedy duo Creepy Boys (S.E. Grummett & Sam Kruger). Join us for a technocolour acid trip where you’ll meet puppet Joni Mitchell, a two-person horse and every body part we have, and try to have a good time while the world burns. For tonight, at least, we are free.

RHOMBOID

The Melbourne premiere of Eric Jiang’s funny and touching play Rhomboid.

Xavier meets Sebastian in high school. They instantly hit it off, but it doesn’t take long for things to get complicated. Moving through university and into the real world, they miss each other, find new partners, have chaotic encounters, and make their own way. For Xavier, the allure of a promising future smashes into a murky reality – especially as a queer Asian-Australian. As he fumbles through relationships and unusual friendships, Xavier continues to orbit Sebastian, sometimes closely, sometimes from afar, infuriating him and craving him in equal measure as they gradually figure out what they mean to each other. Presented by fortyfivedownstairs, Margot Morales (And She Would Stand Like This, Antipodes Theatre) directs the Melbourne premiere of this funny and touching play by Eric Jiang (Lacuna, Griffin Theatre) about the unexpected forms love takes.

The post Sat, 26th, Sept, 2026: Danny Delahunty, Creative Director & CEO, Melbourne Fringe appeared first on Saturday Magazine.

Mew data shows Mpox cases are on the rise locally, with 52 cases reported statewide since August 1 alone. While the virus continues to circulate globally, localised findings reveal a dramatic difference in how severely it impacts people based on their vaccination status. Joining us today on Saturday Magazine is Professor Rhonda Stuart, Director of Public Health and Infection Prevention at Monash Health and Director of Monash Health’s South East Public Health Unit. Good morning Rhonda.

Her team has analysed 205 local Mpox cases recorded since 2024 – and they’ve found data proving that vaccination hospital emergency visits—from over 31% in unvaccinated patients down to under 9% for those fully vaccinated.

Cases are climbing across Victoria, with 52 cases reported since August 1, 2026. SEPHU Cohort (205 Cases): All cases recorded in Melbourne’s south-east (a catchment of 1.8 million people) were men.

Emergency Department (ED) Rates by Vaccination Status:

• • Unvaccinated: 31.6% required an emergency department visit.
  • 1 Vaccine Dose: 16.6% required an ED visit.
  • Fully Vaccinated (2 Doses): 8.6% required an ED visit. Key Takeaway: A full two-dose vaccination course cuts ED presentation risk by nearly 75% compared to being unvaccinated.

1. Viral Strains & The Clade 1b Variant

• Transmission Dynamics: Spread occurs primarily through close physical contact (such as sexual activity), contact with contaminated objects (towels, bedding, sex toys), or respiratory droplets/body fluids.
• Clade 1b Strain: SEPHU has recorded one case of Clade 1b mpox in its region. Clade 1b is considered more transmissible than earlier strains (like Clade IIb).
• Cross-Protection: The free JYNNEOS vaccine provides effective protection against both Clade 1 and Clade 2 strains.

1. High-Risk Groups & Clinical Guidance

• At-Risk Cohorts: Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) and their sexual partners remain at highest risk, particularly those with multiple or casual partners or who attend sex-on-premises venues or events.
• Vulnerable Populations: Immunocompromised individuals, children, and pregnant women face a higher risk of severe illness if exposed.
• Clinical Advice: Health authorities are advising doctors to test any sexually active person presenting with symptoms (fever, rash, localized lesions, rectal/genital pain) regardless of their sexual orientation, travel history, or vaccination status.

The post Sat, 3rd, Oct, 2026: Prof. Rhonda Stuart, Director of Public Health and Infection Prevention at Monash Health & Director of the South East Public Health Unit (SEPHU) appeared first on Saturday Magazine.

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.