A young Liberal Party staffer has alleged she was raped by a colleague at Parliament House nearly two years ago, according to a report by news.com.au.
Brittany Higgins has alleged she was sexually assaulted in Defence Minister Linda Reynolds’ ministerial office by another staffer after a night out with colleagues. She was 24 years old at the time, and just months into working at Parliament House.
On the night, Higgins said she was affected by alcohol and was signed into parliament house by the staffer. After lying down on a couch in the office, she alleges she woke up to the staffer raping her.
Higgins reported the alleged sexual assault to the police, but ultimately decided not to make a formal complaint. It was just weeks before Scott Morrison called the 2019 federal election.
Higgins was working as a media advisor to Senator Linda Reynolds at the time and told news.com.au she felt forced to choose between reporting it to police or keeping her job.
Days after the alleged sexual assault, Higgins was brought in for a formal meeting with Reynolds and a senior staffer in the same room where she said the assault occurred. According to Higgins, Reynolds expressed horror but also wanted to find out if she intended to go to the police.
“She said, ‘If you choose to go to the police we will support you in that process, but we just need to know ahead of time. We need to know now’,” Higgins told news.com.au.
EXCLUSIVE: a Liberal staffer has alleged she was raped in the Defence ministers office and then forced to attend a formal employment meeting about the incident in room where it occurred https://t.co/vYIJEpWAGp pic.twitter.com/ZLoKftnB4J
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) February 14, 2021
A spokesperson for Senator Reynolds has since said the decision to hold the meeting there was a mistake.
“During this process, the Minister and a senior staff member met with the staff member in the Minister’s office. Given the seriousness of the incident, the meeting should have been conducted elsewhere,’’ a spokesman said in a statement.
Clearly that’s the question for any ministers today. If it’s “not appropriate” to hold a meeting with an alleged victim in room she says she was sexually assaulted will @lindareynoldswa apologise? Brittany also never got any counselling from EAP. It was a two week or longer wait https://t.co/ckwTHqQqtk
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) February 14, 2021
After the 2019 election, Higgins went to work in Senator Michaelia Cash’s office, who has said she was not aware of the incident at the time, despite a journalist lodging questions about it.
In January this year, Higgins resigned from her job at parliament house. In her letter of resignation, she said, “Due to ongoing matters pertaining to my role in the former Minister for Defence Industry’s office I believe it is appropriate to resign at this time.”
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