Payne was born in 1953 in Scotland. In 1967 Payne emigrated to Australia. Payne won his first award in 1978 with his work "Albert's Bellyful" which won the
Ditmar Award for best Australian short fiction. In 1995 he won the
Aurealis Award for best horror short story with his
chapbook "Olympia". Payne has a wife and child and is currently living outside
Melbourne,
Victoria, Australia. ==Awards and nominations==