Stage set for court battle by Brittany Higgins’ ex-boss
Brittany Higgins’ former boss will face the federal government over claims he failed to protect Ms Higgins following allegations she was raped in Parliament House.
Fiona Brown was private secretary to then defense minister Linda Reynolds in 2019 when Ms Higgins claimed she was raped by colleague Bruce Lehrmann in Reynolds’ office.
Federal Court Judge Michael Lee found Ms Brown had shown compassion and honesty in her handling of Ms Higgins’ complaint but had been unfairly maligned “as a callous apparatchik” trying to cover up a crime.
In his decision, which hit headlines in April 2024, he found there was no evidence of Ms Higgins’ alleged cover-up, but that she was most likely raped by Lehrmann.
Lehrmann is awaiting a decision on his appeal against the gross defamation loss against Network 10.
After playing a prominent role in the libel case, Ms Brown returned to the Federal Court on Monday for her own fight against the Commonwealth.
Judge Nye Perram postponed the matter for a four-week hearing to begin in March 2027 and indicated the hearing could be shorter.
He instructed the Commonwealth to notify Ms Brown by December 19 if it intended to apply to have some or all of her case dismissed.
The dispute will return to court in February.
If the trial goes ahead, it will take place eight years after Ms Higgins told Ms Brown she woke up half-naked in her boss’s office.
The then chief of staff was shocked when Ms Higgins later said Lehrmann had climbed on top of her, Judge Lee found.
It was decided that Lehrmann was so determined to have sex with Ms Higgins that he did not care whether she consented or not.
Lehrmann had long denied raping Ms Higgins. The criminal case was canceled in 2022 without any findings against him.
Her defamation lawsuit against Network 10 resulted in Ms Higgins being held to a lower civil standard of proving that she was a victim of sexual assault.
“Escaping from the lions’ den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of returning for his hat,” Judge Lee said.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Resolution Support Service 1800 211 028
