Brittany Higgins has signed with a leading talent agency despite previously claiming she was diagnosed as unfit for employment.
Sydney-based talent agency, 22 Management, announced the deal on social media on Friday, weeks after Ms Higgins announced her return to the workforce.
Owner Sean Anderson, best known for once representing Australian model Jennifer Hawkins, welcomed the news, describing it as a ‘significant signing’ for the firm.
The former Liberal staffer joins the likes of Sophie Monk, David Koch, Alex Perry and Ruby Tuesday Matthews in 22 Management’s stable.
It comes four years after Higgins reached a $2.4million settlement with the federal government following her alleged rape by Bruce Lehrmann.
First reported by The Australian, Ms Higgins’ draft statement of claim said she had a ‘reasonable expectation of being promoted regularly and to eventually pursue her own political career, before suffering from the injuries and disabilities’.
It said she had been ‘diagnosed as medically unfit for any form of employment, and has been given a very poor prognosis for future employment’.
The claim suggested she was therefore due more than $2.5million in economic losses for 40 years’ of missed earnings.
Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins (left) has landed representation at a top-brass talent agency within years of being awarded 40 years in lost wages by the federal government
Owner of 22 Management Sean Anderson (pictured) described the deal with Ms Higgins as a ‘significant signing’ for the firm
Mr Anderson is best known for representing Australian model Jennifer Hawkins (pictured)
The claims were untested in court after Ms Higgins was awarded the $2.4million payout following one day of mediation talks.
More than half the sum was in respect to her loss of earnings, while the rest was made up of medical expenses, legal costs and ‘$400,000 for hurt, distress and humiliation’.
Despite her ‘very poor prognosis for future employment’, Ms Higgins revealed earlier this month she had taken a gig at Melbourne-based PR firm Third Hemisphere.
She reportedly joined as the firm’s director of public affairs alongside her husband David Sharaz who is employed as a director at the same company.
It was her first full-time role since her public rape allegations against Lehrmann thrust her into the national spotlight as an advocate for survivors of sexual assault.
She has made no secret her ambitions beyond advocacy, describing her role at Third Hemisphere as a ‘first step’ towards a career aligned with her role models.
‘Advocacy is a passion, but it’s not forever,’ she told the Australian Financial Review last month.
‘It is important because the moment struck, and I had to take up the mantle… but it’s not a self-sustaining career.
22 Management celebrated the deal with Ms Higgins, describing it as an ‘honour’
Ms Higgins returned to the workforce earlier this month. Her husband David Sharaz works at the same firm
‘There are people I aspire to be like – people like Sam Mostyn, Tanya Hosch and Christine Holgate – I hope this is the first step towrads tracking in that direction.’
The talent agency shared the fresh news in a post to social media on Friday, writing: ‘We are thrilled that Brittany Higgins has joined 22 MGMT!
’22 will be exclusively managing all Brittany’s speaking and media enquiries (both here and overseas) as she continues on her journey advocating for change.
‘We are proud to represent such a strong woman who has endured so much, so publicly, but remains a powerful voice in the fight against gender-based violence.
‘It is an honour to provide her with the support she rightly deserves.’
Ms Higgins was quick to comment, thanking the agency for ‘being a support’ and ‘having me as part of the (22 Management) family’.
Lehrmann has always denied the claims but was found to have raped Ms Higgins on the balance of probabilities by Justice Michael Lee in April last year.
He is currently appealing that decision.
