Ex-Australian senator wins defamation case against Brittany Higgins

Linda Reynolds says her reputation was damaged by a series of social media posts

A former Australian senator has won her defamation case against an ex-staffer who alleged she was raped at work and that the politician helped cover it up.

The case centres on allegations in 2021 by Brittany Higgins that she was sexually assaulted by a colleague at Parliament House and that Linda Reynolds - her boss - tried to "harass" and "silence" her over the claims.

In 2023, Reynolds sued Higgins, saying three social media posts had tarnished her reputation, impacted her health and curtailed her career.

After a five-week trial in the Supreme Court of Western Australia last year, Justice Paul Tottle on Wednesday found that two of the three posts were defamatory.

The judge also awarded Reynolds A$315,000 ($204,523; £151,000), plus interest, in damages.

The verdict is the latest in a string of legal battles that emerged as a result of the initial rape claims, with the case sparking massive protests and several high-level inquiries into the conduct of the judiciary and culture in parliament.

Bruce Lehrmann - who has always denied that he and Ms Higgins had sex at all - faced a criminal trial in 2022, but this was aborted due to juror misconduct. A retrial was later abandoned over mental health concerns for Ms Higgins.

But in 2024, a civil court found in a separate defamation trial that on the balance of probabilies, Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins and told "deliberate lies".

Lehrmann has appealed against this and is awaiting the decision of the ruling.

The long awaited ruling was handed down on Wednesday by Justice Tottle, who found that two of the three social media posts Ms Reynolds complained about were defamatory.

The judge found that Ms Higgins had defamed Ms Reynolds in an Instagram story in July 2023 where she accused her of mishandling her rape claim.

Justice Tottle also found that Ms Higgins had defamed Ms Reynolds in a tweet which implied that she had pressured her not to take the claim to police and that she was a hypocrite in her advocacy for gender equality and female empowerment.

Ms Reynolds had said the criticism of her was unfair and backlash over it caused her physical and mental health to suffer greatly.

However, the judge said that a third post - where Ms Higgins implied that Ms Reynolds had tried to "silence victims" of sexual assault - was not defamatory as it was a honest opinion, fair comment and protected under qualified privilege.

Ms Reynolds also claimed that Ms Higgins and her husband David Sharaz had conspired to damage her reputation in giving media interviews in 2021 but the judge found this was not true.

The case also sought an injunction to prevent Ms Higgins from speaking out about the matter but the judge ruled against this.

During the five-week defamation trial, the court heard from more than 20 witnesses including Ms Reynolds and the former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison who defended his former colleague.

Outside the courts, Ms Reynolds said the case had been an "incredibly emotionally and financially taxing journey" but that she "never gave up on the truth".

Shortly after the verdict, Ms Higgins released a statement, saying she was relieved the case was over.

"I accept that Linda Reynolds' feelings were hurt by these events and I am sorry for that," Ms Higgins said.

She added that the past six years have been "marked by challenge, scrutiny and change".