Brittany Higgins has criticized the federal government’s lack of action following a major review into the justice system’s response to sexual violence, describing it as “disheartening” as Victoria moves to strengthen laws protecting victim-survivors’ confidential communications. In an exclusive interview with Guardian Australia, Higgins said having her counseling records subpoenaed by police during the criminal trial of Bruce Lehrmann “felt like such a violation.”
Victoria Commits to Legal Reform
The Victorian government has committed to strengthening laws regarding the use of victim-survivors’ confidential communications, including counseling, psychiatric, and medical records. This follows an open letter to Premier Jacinta Allan and Attorney General Sonya Kilkenny, signed by Higgins and other advocates, calling for greater legislative protections. The letter, penned by Animal Justice party MP Georgie Purcell, also requested that all complainants in sexual offense proceedings be given the option to pre-record their evidence.
Kilkenny confirmed the government would pursue reforms, stating that while Victoria has “some of the strongest legal protections” for victim-survivors, “there is always more to be done.” She added, “That’s why we will strengthen the laws around use of pre-recorded evidence and counseling note confidentiality – and I’ll continue speaking with victim-survivors and experts on how to do that.”
Federal Inaction Criticized
The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) review, released by the Albanese government in March 2025, made 64 recommendations, including addressing systemic barriers that prevent victim-survivors from accessing justice. The review found that 92% of women choose not to report sexual assault to police. However, the government has yet to formally respond to the recommendations.
“There’s been no indication about where they want to take the review. It’s been tabled, it’s sat there and we’ve had no mention of it. It’s completely fallen off the agenda,” Higgins said. “For a government that felt like they were representative of women’s safety issues, for them to fall off like this, and to have no follow up, has been disheartening.”
Personal Experience of Violation
In the 2022 criminal trial of Bruce Lehrmann, Higgins’ counseling records were subpoenaed by police and included in the brief of evidence handed to the defense. “It felt like such a violation,” Higgins said. “It’s such an intimate, sacred sort of relationship – the one between you and a therapist. The violation of knowing the person who perpetrated this violence, that’s caused such great harm to your life, then has access to your innermost thoughts – it’s devastating, it’s hurtful.”
Lehrmann has always denied the allegations, and the criminal trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct. A subsequent defamation judgment found that Lehrmann had, on the balance of probabilities, raped Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.
Impact on Other Survivors
Another signatory of the letter, Nicole Meyer, who along with her sisters helped bring former school principal Malka Leifer to justice, described how her counseling reports from a civil proceeding were used by the defense to “discredit” her account. “There was no recognition that trauma and memory work differently,” Meyer said. Clinical psychologist Rachel Samson noted that it is “incredibly common” for victim-survivors to disclose different fragments of memory over time, and challenging a subpoena can be a “time-consuming and costly” exercise for psychologists.
Purcell welcomed Kilkenny’s commitment, emphasizing the need for consultation with advocacy groups to “get it right and in place before the parliamentary term is over.” She added, “This won’t fix the scourge of sexual violence in our state, but what it will do is increase reporting of sexual violence and restore faith in our justice system.”
A spokesperson for the federal attorney general, Michelle Rowland, said the government had committed an initial $21.4 million to strengthen support services after the ALRC review and had delivered funding for stakeholder engagement, including with people with lived experience.
