Brittany Higgins willing to testify in Bruce Lehrmann defamation's case against media outlets
Brittany Higgins says she is committed to appearing before civil proceedings brought by former colleague Bruce Lehrmann.
Lehrmann has launched defamation action against Network Ten and News Life Media, the News Corp Australia company behind News.com.au, over their coverage of rape allegations made by Higgins.
His lawyers filed statements of claim in the Federal Court on Tuesday afternoon, with the two outlets named as respondents in the applications.
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Brittany Higgins said she is "willing to defend the truth" in Bruce Lehrmann's defamation case. AAP
Higgins accused Lehrmann of raping her inside the Parliament House office of then-minister Linda Reynolds, who they both worked for, in 2019.
He denied the allegation and maintained the pair never had any sexual interaction.
"Following recent developments, I feel the need to make it clear if required I am willing to defend the truth as a witness in any potential civil cases brought about by Mr Lehrmann," Higgins reposted on Twitter on Tuesday evening.
Lehrmann's criminal trial in the ACT Supreme Court was derailed in October due to juror misconduct and the prosecutor later dropped the charges due to the impacts a second trial would have on Higgins' mental health.
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Higgins accused Lehrmann of raping her at Parliament House. Lehrmann denied the allegations and the charges were dropped after a criminal trial was abandoned. Alex Ellinghausen
Sydney law firm Mark O'Brien Legal is representing Lehrmann in the defamation proceedings.
The ACT government has launched an independent inquiry into the handling of Higgins' rape allegations by police, prosecutors and a victims' support service.
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Crisis support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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