Bruce Lehrmann has lost his last legal avenue to challenge his failed defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson. Photograph: Steve Markham/AAPView image in fullscreenBruce Lehrmann has lost his last legal avenue to challenge his failed defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson. Photograph: Steve Markham/AAPBruce Lehrmann loses last-ditch legal effort to appeal defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa WilkinsonThe high court has dismissed his bid to clear his name of findings that, on the balance of probabilities, he raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
Bruce Lehrmann has lost his last legal avenue to challenge his failed defamation case against Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson after Australia’s top court dismissed his case.
The high court dismissed his attempt to challenge the outcome in a short judgment published to its website on Thursday.
“Special leave refused with costs,” the judgment said.
It comes after Lehrmann lost an appeal against the finding last year.
In April 2024, Justice Michael Lee found that on the balance of probabilities Lehrmann raped former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019, and that Lehrmann was therefore not defamed when Wilkinson interviewed Higgins about the case on The Project.
Lehrmann was not named in the 2021 interview on The Project, but later claimed he was identifiable.
Brittany Higgins, who was not a party to the case, posted a statement to her social media after the verdict, saying the decision “brings a measure of finality to a long and painful chapter”.
“Too often, the legal system re-traumatises victim-survivors. Defamation claims brought by perpetrators of sexual violence re-traumatise victim-survivors, who have already endured profound personal violation, and extend the harm we suffer,” she wrote.
“I hope this moment prompts a broader reflection on how our legal system can better protect those who come forward.” In 2021, Lehrmann was charged with sexual intercourse without consent against Higgins. He pleaded not guilty at his criminal trial in 2022, denying that any sexual activity had occurred. Lehrmann continues to maintain his innocence. After his criminal trial was aborted in December 2022 due to juror misconduct, prosecutors dropped charges against Lehrmann for the alleged rape of Higgins, saying a retrial would pose an “unacceptable risk” to her health. Lehrmann then pursued Ten and Wilkinson in the federal court, resulting in a failed defamation trial that ran for five weeks in 2023. In his judgment, Lee famously said of Lehrmann’s decision to bring the civil case against Ten and Wilkinson, after his criminal trial was aborted due to juror misconduct: “Having escaped the lion’s den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of going back for his hat.” In December last year, Lehrmann lost his appeal against the finding in the federal court The full bench of the federal court of appeal went further than the defamation trial judge, arguing Lee should have found Lehrmann knew Higgins did not consent to sexual intercourse. The appeal judges dismissed all four grounds of the appeal: that it was procedurally unfair to Lehrmann; that an ordinary person viewing The Project would have thought he committed a violent rape with lack of consent; that Lee erred in finding Network 10 and Wilkinson had discharged the burden of proof in relation to the rape; and that he should have been awarded more than $20,000 should he have won. In January, Lehrmann launched his high court bid, arguing the federal court of appeal was wrong to uphold justification defences.
