The national corruption watchdog has found no evidence of any wrongdoing in the Commonwealth’s $2.4 million settlement to former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins over her alleged rape at Parliament House.
Higgins received the payout from the Commonwealth, under the direction of then-attorney-general Mark Dreyfus, to settle a compensation claim in 2022.
She was compensated for her loss of earning capacity, legal costs, medical expenses, domestic assistance and hurt, distress and humiliation as a result of her alleged sexual assault by former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission conducted an “extensive” preliminary investigation into claims of inappropriate behaviour by the Labor government and found there was no evidence of corruption.
“There is no evidence that the settlement process, including the legal advice provided, who was present at the mediation, or the amount, was subject to any improper influence by any Commonwealth public official,” the commission said in a statement today.
“To the contrary, the evidence obtained reflected a process that was based on independent external legal advice, without any inappropriate intervention by any minister of either government.
“There is therefore no corruption issue.”
The commission found that initial legal and external advice on a settlement was provided to the Morrison government before the 2022 federal election.
The advice received by the newly elected Albanese government had “no material difference” and there was no “identifiable difference in approach” to the matter.
“There was no material difference in the updated legal advice later provided to the new Labor government,” the commission said.
“Nor was there any identifiable difference in approach to the matter before and after the change in government.
“There was no inappropriate intervention in the process by or on behalf of any minister.”
According to the findings, the one-day mediation conference was consistent with departmental advice, informed by legal advice and the result of a 12-month process.
The $2.4 million figure was also less than the maximum amount recommended by the external and independent legal advice.
“A critical consideration during the settlement process was avoiding ongoing trauma to Ms Higgins,” the commission said.
The commission concluded that there was no evidence of improper influence by any government official during the settlement process, including the legal advice, who was involved with the mediation or the amount of the payout.
“To the contrary, the evidence obtained reflected a process that was based on independent external legal advice, without any inappropriate intervention by any minister of either government,” the commission said.
Lehrmann’s criminal trial for the alleged rape of Higgins was aborted in 2022 due to juror misconduct and the charges were later dropped over concerns for Higgins’ mental health.
A later Federal Court defamation case brought by Lehrmann against Network 10 and journalist Lisa Wilkinson failed after Justice Michael Lee found, on the balance of probabilities, Lehrmann had raped Higgins.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
