Staffer raped colleague in Australian parliament office, judge finds

A former government adviser raped a colleague in a parliament office, an Australian judge found yesterday, dismissing a defamation suit in a case that has gripped the nation.

Bruce Lehrmann, a staff member in a previous government, brought a defamation suit against Australian media company Network Ten after it aired an interview with his accuser, Brittany Higgins, in 2021. Justice Michael Lee of Australia’s Federal Court said yesterday he had found Lehrmann raped Higgins on the lower “balance of probabilities” standard used in civil trials, rather than that of “beyond all reasonable doubt” used in criminal trials.

“My conclusion on rape. Mr Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins,” he told the court in comments that were livestreamed to tens of thousands of viewers.

“I hasten to stress this is a finding on the balance of probabilities.”

Lehrmann made no comment to reporters as he left the court. He has previously denied all wrongdoing.

Lehrmann was first accused of raping Ms Higgins in a ministerial office in the capital, Canberra, in 2019.

The Network Ten interview with Ms Higgins did not name Lehrmann, but the judge found he had been identified based on other details provided on the programme.

A criminal trial collapsed in 2022 after a juror was found conducting individual research into the case, and a proposed retrial was abandoned after prosecutors said it would severely harm Ms Higgins’ mental health.

“Having escaped the lion’s den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of coming back for his hat,” Judge Lee said in his judgment, referring to Lehrmann’s decision to file the defamation case.

Judge Lee will rule who will pay legal costs of both sides, estimated to be in the millions of dollars, at a later date.

Lehrmann’s case has turned attention to defamation law in Australia, which has no written provision for freedom of speech in its constitution. Media organisations say defamation laws overwhelmingly favour the accuser.

“This judgment is a triumph for truth,” a spokesperson for Network Ten said in a statement.

“It is clear however that Australia’s defamation laws remain highly restrictive.”

The case has parallels to that of Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated war veteran, who was found last year to have been “complicit in and responsible for the murder” of three Afghan men, after bringing his own defamation suit against three Australian newspapers. Mr Roberts-Smith is appealing the ruling.