Political staffers’ late-night visits to be tracked in safety measure

Federal politicians will get reports on the after-hours movements of their staff and sponsored cardholders at Parliament House, instituting a key recommendation of a review launched following the rape of Brittany Higgins almost seven years ago.

The change – which will alert MPs if staff enter the building between 11pm and 4am – comes as former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann makes a last-ditch appeal to the High Court, seeking to overturn a finding he raped his then-colleague Higgins inside Parliament House.

The assault took place in the early hours of March 23, 2019 in the office of then defence minister Linda Reynolds, who on Tuesday welcomed the “sensible measure that could and should have been permanently implemented years ago”.

But Reynolds said the minor steps made at the recommendation of senior bureaucrat Stephanie Foster in her Responding to Serious Incidents review in 2021, had not gone far enough.

“Until there is full transparency on the actions of DPS and Finance staff in responding to events that triggered the Foster review, there is no way of knowing if this and any other measure is sufficient,” Reynolds said.

The former Liberal senator is suing the Commonwealth and its lawyers, claiming they breached a duty of care to her when they assumed control of her defence in the handling of Higgins’ $2.4 million payout.

The latest reform will mean MPs are sent weekly reports on the after-hours movements of their employees and anyone whose parliamentary passes they have sponsored, such as lobbyists.

Pass holders will also need to sign an access form when entering the building after hours.

Foster’s 2021 review also recommended an increased security presence throughout the building after-hours, and updates to ministerial and staff standards to “clearly articulate” the unacceptability of physical, sexual and psychosocial harassment.

The Department of Parliamentary Services has been contacted for an update on the rollout of the other recommendations.

Independent senator David Pocock, who has campaigned against relaxed access restrictions and has established his own public “parliamentary pass register”, said the tracking policy was “a good decision”.

“It will contribute to making Parliament House a safer workplace, and increase transparency and accountability of those who have and grant access to the building,” Pocock said.

“I would like to see these reforms go further. Australians should know who has a sponsored pass which gives them access to all areas and should know who sponsored their pass and gave them that access.”

On Friday, Lehrmann applied to the High Court for special leave to have his case heard, arguing the rejection of his defamation bid against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson in 2024 by Justice Michael Lee relied on inappropriately conducted research that compromised the judge’s impartiality.

Lehrmann had sued the network over an interview with Higgins aired on The Project, but Lee upheld the network’s defence that the report was true, finding Lehrmann had raped Higgins, on the civil balance of probabilities.

It is Lehrmann’s last avenue to overturn the verdict in the multimillion-dollar legal battle, after the full Federal Court in December rejected his first appeal against the defamation loss and made further damning findings that the former federal Liberal staffer was not just reckless, but knew Higgins had not consented to sex.

Lehrmann, who was not convicted after a criminal case against him collapsed because of juror misconduct, has maintained he did not rape Higgins.

His lawyer, Zali Burrows, argued in the application that the High Court should dismiss the findings of both Lee and the full Federal Court, and send the matter back to the Federal Court.

She argued Lee had conducted his own research and obtained “extraneous non-legal material”, despite Lee noting in his judgment that he was not relying on matters not in evidence.

Burrow’s submission asserted that the full Federal Court had failed to conduct a proper review of

It is rare for the High Court to grant special leave to appeal, particularly when the legal argument could have been made in a first appeal but was not, as in Lehrmann’s case.

Lehrmann is facing the threat of bankruptcy because he is unable to meet court costs orders against him totalling more than $2 million.

Higgins has been declared bankrupt just months after being ordered to pay Reynolds $340,000 in damages for defamation and legal costs believed to exceed $1.5 million.

West Australian Supreme Court Justice Paul Tottle found in December that Higgins had defamed her former boss in social media posts between 2022 and 2023, by accusing Reynolds of mishandling her alleged rape and waging a campaign of harassment.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.