Australia’s multi-year reckoning over how its legal system handles sexual assault allegations and media reporting reached a definitive conclusion on Thursday. The High Court of Australia has officially refused Bruce Lehrmann’s special leave application to appeal his devastating defamation loss against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson.
This rejection permanently closes Lehrmann’s legal avenues. He can no longer challenge the civil court findings that, on the balance of probabilities, he raped former political staffer Brittany Higgins inside Parliament House in March 2019.
The financial fallout is immediate and severe. Lehrmann is now locked into paying massive indemnity costs. Those bills cover both the original trial and his subsequent failed appeals. Legal experts estimate the total is upwards of $2 million, according to a detailed report released on Thursday morning.
The saga stems from an April 2024 judgment by Federal Court Justice Michael Lee. He dismissed Lehrmann’s defamation suit regarding a 2021 broadcast on The Project. Lehrmann appealed that decision in December 2025. That gamble backfired completely.
A three-judge appellate panel unanimously dismissed his case. They actually strengthened the original findings against him. Justice Lee originally ruled Lehrmann was “recklessly indifferent” to Higgins’ consent. The appellate judges went further. They concluded Lehrmann had “actual knowledge” that Higgins was not consenting.
Higgins has fiercely criticized Lehrmann’s legal maneuvers over the past two years. Breaking her silence following his December 2025 Federal Court loss, Higgins stated she could finally “breathe again.” She condemned his lawsuit as a retraumatising rape trial disguised as a defamation case.
How the Lehrmann Case Could Trigger Federal Anti-SLAPP Legislation
The High Court’s refusal to hear the appeal sends immediate shockwaves through the world of Australian media and civil law. This is no longer just about one failed lawsuit. It is about a structural loophole in the justice system.
Lehrmann’s aggressive use of defamation law has reinvigorated urgent national conversations around introducing federal Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) legislation in Australia. Legal advocates argue the current system is easily weaponized. Perpetrators can use civil lawsuits to intimidate, silence, and financially ruin #MeToo victim-survivors, even after criminal trials fail or are abandoned.
This case is the explicit catalyst for change. The fact that a man previously described as having “modest means” could drag a major television network and his victim through years of expensive civil litigation highlights a massive flaw. Lawmakers are now under intense pressure to draft protections that stop defamation courts from being used as a backdoor method to relitigate sexual assault allegations.