Bruce Lehrmann loses final bid to appeal Brittany Higgins rape finding in defamation case

With disgraced ex-Liberal Bruce Lehrmann running out of options to appeal a disastrous defamation loss, his alleged victim Brittany Higgins has called for change.

Lehrmann took his case against Network Ten to the High Court, where he challenged two courts’ findings that the broadcaster had not brought him into disrepute by broadcasting Higgins’ claim during an interview on The project in February 2021.

Higgins on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court’s choice to deny his request for special leave to appeal.

“Today’s decision by the High Court of Australia brings a degree of finality to a long and painful chapter,” she wrote on Instagram.

She described Lehrman as someone who “used the legal system for years in an attempt to silence my voice – the voice of his victim – and the journalists/media who reported my story.”

She said her focus was on advocating for a justice system that better protected victim survivors and treated them with care and respect.

Lehrmann denies the accusation and says no criminal findings have been made against him.

Due to the Supreme Court’s decision, his appeal was never fully heard.

Typically, the court will refuse special leave if it considers that an appeal does not raise an important issue of Australian law.

Tien declined to comment on the outcome, while Lehrmann, through his lawyer Zali Burrows, did not respond to questions.

In April 2024, Federal Court Judge Michael Lee first dismissed the 30-year-old’s case against Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, describing it as an “omnishambles”.

The judge’s findings, including that Lehrmann had raped Higgins on the balance of probabilities, were upheld on appeal by the full Federal Court in December.

The two were drinking with colleagues in 2019 before the pair ended up at Parliament House in the office of their then boss, Senator Linda Reynolds.

Higgins has claimed that Lehrmann raped her there.

He has repeatedly denied any sexual conduct and said he had returned in the early hours to take notes on French submarine contracts.

This claim was roundly rejected by Lee, saying the 30-year-old had seen Higgins kissing him, who he found attractive.

“Does a man in such a situation have French submarine contracts on his mind or does he have something else on his mind?” the judge joked.

A criminal case against Lehrmann in the ACT was derailed due to juror misconduct.

A further trial was ruled out and no findings were made against him in a criminal court.

The failed High Court bid could see Lehrmann forced into bankruptcy due to court orders that he pay a $2 million legal bill to Ten.