The Harman Undertaking
A most disturbing revelation, with profound repercussions for victims of rape and sexual assault, was made by former Channel Seven Spotlight producer Taylor Auerbach in his evidence in the defamation action brought by Bruce Lehrmann against Channel Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.
Lehrmann is alleged to have raped staffer Brittany Higgins in the parliament house office of then Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, in March 2019. His criminal trial was aborted due to juror misconduct.
Auerbach alleged that Lehrmann supplied Seven with privileged material given by Ms Higgins to the AFP, material that was not used in his criminal trial. It is also alleged that Lehrmann airdropped the entire police E-brief to Auerbach, while the two were on a golfing trip.
According to a News.com report:
“Network 10’s barrister Dr Matt Collins has told the court that Bruce Lehrmann breached legal principles by providing Seven with documents from his ACT Supreme Court trial.
Mr Auerbach, in an affidavit tendered to the court, said Mr Lehrmann provided him with the AFP “statement of facts” from Mr Lehrmann’s criminal trial.”
The police statement of facts was provided to the defendant and his lawyers by the AFP, as is customary. Lehrmann and his legal team were then obliged by their responsibilities to the Harman Undertaking to use the documents “only for the purposes for which they were disclosed, and not for collateral or ulterior purposes.”
In short, the text messages, phone records and diary extracts supplied by Ms Higgins to the AFP, included in the brief of evidence and not used in the trial, should never have been released to the media. To do so was to breach the Harman Undertaking.
In theory such a breach can lead to a charge of contempt of court and, if you are a lawyer, a complaint to the Legal Services Commission.
As Ms Higgins stated in late July 2023, she provided the material to the AFP to assist in the prosecution of her alleged rapist:
“Reminder – this is my phone data I provided to the AFP to prosecute my rape case.
“None of it was tabled in court.
“And now, it continues to be leaked to the media without my consent.”
She said that the leaks represented “such a dangerous precedent to tolerate a victim’s private data to be weaponised in this manner without any recourse.”
Mr Auerbach alleged in April 2024 that Mr Lehrmann was responsible for supplying the privileged material to Seven. It is unclear who first released the privileged information to Janet Albrechtsen of The Australian in the middle of 2023.
It is important to note here that Mr Lehrmann has consistently and vigorously denied the rape allegations and denied that he is the source of the information from the police brief.
It’s telling that while there’s been a steady leak of evidence not used in Lehrmann’s criminal trial, there has been a remarkable lack of protest about the leak of that privileged material and the breach of the Harman Undertaking the leaking represents. There’s no shortage of salacious coverage of the content of the leaks, but considerably less commentary on the illegality of the act of leaking them.
Unless penalties are imposed on those who abuse their privileged access to police evidence such breaches will continue, to the detriment of victims, particularly in rape and sexual assault cases. As things stand, a complainant would do well to hurl her phone into the nearest body of water rather than give it to investigating police for inclusion in a brief to which her alleged perpetrator has access.
It seems an entirely untenable situation and one that can only be addressed if there is the legal and political will to address it. There is a clear framework in place for the prosecution of offenders, however, so far, nobody seems particularly interested in using it.
So when in September 2023 I was informed that the police brief of evidence in the Lehrmann Toowoomba matter had been obtained by an individual with no standing in that matter, who did not meet the criteria for access to that brief under Queensland law, I decided to do something about it.
Bruce Lehrmann was charged with of with two counts of raping a woman in Toowoomba, Queensland in 2021, shortly after he appeared in court in the ACT on charges of allegedly raping Brittany Higgins. Witnesses in the Toowoomba matter will be cross examined by Lehrmann’s counsel in a committal hearing in June 2024.
The individual who obtained the Toowoomba police brief relayed chunks of information from the brief to two other individuals, who, without knowledge of the other’s involvement, passed on the information to me. Both parties named the same individual as their source.
I have of course no evidence of who leaked the brief, and no knowledge of the intentions of the individual who benefitted from the leak. However, I was and remain sufficiently horrified by this breach occurring for the second time in two separate matters concerning the same accused person, that I decided to take whatever action I could.
On September 14, 2023, I lodged a complaint with the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission about the leak of the Toowoomba police brief to the individual.
On 26 October 2023, the Daily Mail published an article headlined: “Full details of rape accusations against Bruce Lehrmann after meeting alleged victim at a Toowoomba strip club – and when she came forward.”
Journalist Kylie Stevens attributes as her source a court brief she states was “obtained exclusively by The Australian“:
“According to a court brief obtained exclusively by The Australian newspaper [paywalled], the pair used cocaine during the night.’
The Australian headline is upfront about its source:
Cocaine, unprotected sex: Police brief reveals new charges.
Details of allegations against former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann can be revealed…”
Journalist Samantha Maiden also wrote a piece for News.com on October 26, detailing some of the police allegations without naming a source.
On 2 November 2023, I updated my complaint to the Queensland CCC to include these three articles.
Several weeks later, the Queensland CCC advised me that they would not be pursuing my complaint.
I’ve now decided to make the complaint again, in the light of current evidence provided by Mr Auerbach and concerns expressed by Dr Collins at the breaching of the Harman Undertaking in Lehrmann’s first trial. It appears that the Undertaking may have already been breached in the Toowoomba matter, before it has even come to trial.
We are talking about what is supposed to be a fundamental protection for victims of rape and sexual assault who choose to make a complaint to police, being used by the perpetrator, or someone who has privileged access to the police brief, to intimidate, harass, and humiliate complainants. It is astounding that this abuse of the legal system has not received anything like the attention it deserves. It is one more obstacle in a field filled with obstacles that can and do deter women from seeking justice after enduring rape and sexual assault.
Why are authorities such as the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission, and the relevant body in the ACT, failing to investigate these leaks?
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22 comments
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TomeoCharlie -
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tess lawrence -
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GL
Return to home pageVery salient questions. This should be taken up by the relevant Attorneys general and, indeed, the Federal AG, Dr Wilson has exposed what appear to be egregious abuses of legal processes in two cases involving the same perpetrator.
As she says, why would victims come forward if they knew their private and personal communications were going to be leaked to the media? But also what of the ethics of journalists willing to be part of such an obviously illegal act? Contempt? Yes and charges should be laid.
Thank you for tipping the information beam balance a little in favour of the legal aspects of both cases. There has been precious little focus from the media on the Harman undertaking, journalists preferring to give the public all the grubby ‘facts’ instead.
For some relevant background, may I suggest Richard Ackland’s short article in the Guardian:
[ https://www.theguardian.com/law/commentisfree/2024/apr/05/with-all-the-excitement-of-the-auerbach-hearing-its-easy-to-lose-sight-of-whats-going-on ]
The author of the present article, Dr. Wilson, raises a very important issue – one that could well apply adversely to any Plaintiff or Complainant when privileged information is leaked – and for whom presently there is no redress. Put yourself in that situation. Would you like information about yourself broadcast to all and sundry when it was meant only and strictly for use in legal proceedings?
Legal proceedings? I recommend Shane Dowling and his writing in Kangaroo Court of Australia. A revelation!
Advice is retained by the Murdoch menagerie of maggoty media, and probably secretive, high priced, cynically detached and surely designed to thwart legality, defy orthodox behaviour, all because they can. So, Albrechtsen, a scurrilous, scabby, scheming scribbler, is “covered”, even though anyone reasonable might see glaring illegality there. This case stinks, with a subnobody yankee doodle being coddled, sheltered, wooed, protected, covered, overpaid. Some people got hounded for wrongfully prosecuted debt. But inside deep dark liberalisms in Australia, a turd gets the chanel 5 cover or disguise; of course, innocent until proven guilty. Then again, Adolf and Josef were thus innocent, having never been proven guilty in a court. By the way, I was told, when a young student, that NSW law graduates were “welcomed into the fellowship of the law” and were given coolly cynical advice on how far or not to go. One boasted of getting off a criminal who he KNEW was guilty, his duty, but the boasting soured his colleagues, as it coated them all with suspicion. Sofronoff?? Is this what we need in official law? Certainly the wilful recklessness and egofixations of Murdoch are clear. And a few bucks will be made, earned, squandered, applied.
G’day Dear Jennifer, I salute you for your courage in writing this critical article – it is just so important to learn of the backroom machinations – and the backstory to the headlines. So often, victims of alleged and proven rape, are raped twice. The second time by the system.
tess xxx
“Your man isn’t going to come off well if he wants to be seen playing golf and watching cricket in a box. He will look every bit the privileged white male his detractors believe him to be” – Spotlight producer Steve Jackson to fellow producer Taylor Auerbach, December 2022.
Well, DUH!!! But obviously Bruce is a protected species with some very powerful friends…
Excellent article, thanks Dr Jennifer.
Your last question as to why the Harman provisions haven’t been instigated re the leaks is the big’un.
But, surprise, surprise. They say everyone is corruptible, but whether they are corrupted depends upon what they have to lose or gain.
Notably, such corruption starts at the top, where the most is likely lost or gained.
It seems in this case, it involves MPs and other politicians and their officers, public servants, members of the police and judiciary, lawyers, and of course members of the mainstream media, along with involved enabler(s). What a tangled web.
Surprise, surprise …… there appears to be many heads for the chopping block, and how much room there is under the carpet, and just which ones will be selected will no doubt be a very tricky exercise.
Meanwhile, no-one’s forgetting much, except the one that counts.
@Max Gross: Herewith some of them (smh paywalled):
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/want-to-hear-from-bruce-lehrmann-about-the-justice-system-that-will-be-100-a-ticket-please-20240407-p5fhz4.html
Eye-popping ironies abound, not least being that the title of the Australians for Science and Freedom conference, ‘Restoring the Presumption of Innocence’, is slated for round the time of BL’s committal hearing in Toowoomba for sexual assault charges.
Margaret Cunneen, another BL supporter, will be a keynote speaker.
Like old unexploded ordinance #MenToo ideologue Bettina Arndt – erstwhile sexologist, sex toy retailer, empire builder, and breathless admirer of Jordan Peterson – is an oxymoron probably best left unexamined.
frances, as you note, ironies abound. I read that article also, and wondered what would motivate public figures such as Arndt and Cunneen to put their necks on the block in defence of Lehrmann given the volumes of less than flattering scrip written about this person, his upcoming appearance in Toowoomba on the same charge as his Canberran debacle, his predilection for commercial sex along with hoovering lines of coke as a get up & go catalyst prior to engaging in the horizontal tango, his obsessive drive to milk as much money out of, well, anyone, really. Why would you wish to put your hand up in support of a man of this nature? I’d reckon you could canvass a huge population sample before you’d find a firm believer in Bruce as a pure white driven snow but somehow badly misunderstood angelic personality.
As to the guff of ‘restoring the presumption of innocence’… I must have missed the bit about its disappearance. Was it gazetted somewhere that this was to be the case in forthcoming criminal trials?
Actions by police seem to be in line with the “good blokes don’t rape” myth.
Women are disposable.
What a shambles !
It would seem that the leaked information came from either Lehrmann, Higgins or Newscorp as scribes from that organisation have been mentioned several times in the article (Janet Albrechtsen, Samantha Maiden, Kylie Stevens) or indeed other sources leaking to The Australian.
If the authorities are to bring contempt charges they will need an admission from one or more of those parties : Lehrmann says it wasn’t him as does HIggins and no doubt the journalists will seek to protect their sources.
This is why we used to put contemptible people in stocks for passers by to throw rotten vegetables at them. It saved the valuable time if the courts from being wasted
We must be careful to allow the justice process to follow its course rather than turn into a ‘get Lehrmann’ at all costs campaign.
There is still the question of why Higgins was gifted close to three million dollars for something that may or may not have happened after a night on the piss.
In the meantime people in Gaza are starving !
@Canguro
“ , his obsessive drive to milk as much money out of, well, anyone, really. ”
A skill he possibly learned from a prior boss maybe?..
I just want to know what it is about Lehrmann that he is so “connected”??? So far I can only surmise he must be, even though he is a nobody, just a lowly former staffer who seems to be a protected species. From the aborted trial which nobody seemed to look into very deeply regarding the juror misconduct (which could not have been more convenient if they tried), to all of Brittany’s court info mysteriously being leaked to the public, to Sofronoff being so chummy with Albrechtsen and actually giving her his report before the ACT Government even saw it (just another serious contract breach), to Sofronoff’s extremely biased report itself, and now Lehrmann’s next trial suffering leaks before the trial even starts…………………….. Like seriously how can one person be just so lucky?????
Hi Tess, thanks for your kind words – hopefully something can be done about this unacceptable situation. Not holding my breath though. Cheers, Jennifer
With a touch of Kafka. I think she writes ripper stuff. Passing sensitive stuff around like hot cakes.
She’s not joking, this one.
Aww…poor ickle Bruce.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/bruce-lehrmann-defamation-case-live-updates-justice-michael-lee-set-to-hand-down-judgment-in-high-stakes-trial-20240414-p5fjre.html
Now, the big question is does Bruce Lehrmann have the funds to pay party costs, having lost the action.
It would not be unusual for a defendant such as Channel Ten to obtain security for costs where there are reasonable concerns the plaintiff (Lehrmann) may not be able to pay the costs of the proceedings if the defendant prevails.
Whatever the case this will prove to be an expensive escapade for Lehrmann.
His future in this country can’t be great, not after this fiasco. Time to pack his bags and rack off back to the YewEssay. Or Cambodia, the Philippines, somewhere anonymous. Oh, wait…another rape trial looms. After the jail time then….
Oh dear, Brucey boy. At last your arrogance has its comeuppance.
And you aren’t going to try to leave the country to escape the fallout from this because there’s still another trial waiting for you.
At long last! Lehrmann, aka Liarman, has been justifiably exposed as a malignant, totally depraved, misogynistic, narcissistic predator without one iota of moral fibre. As such, the recent revelations (exposed in AIMN) about Lehrmann’s wild, offensive, noisy drug-fuelled parties displaying a total lack of respect for his long-suffering neighbours, comes as no surprise!
Despite Lehrmann’s repugnant performance trying to convince an unbelieving, sceptical public that HE was (somehow) the victim in the Brittany Higgins’ scenario, Lehrmann – at last – has been proven to be nothing more than a cowardly and thoroughly entitled misogynistic predator who not only chose to ply Ms Higgins with alcohol in order to use and abuse her by having non-consensual sex but then had the absolute GALL to attempt to make a profit from the ongoing scandal!
It’s not at all surprising that this revolting megalomaniacal psychopath is a signed-up staff member of the deplorable LNP! This is a thoroughly disgraced and internationally-condemned political party that not only protects and elevates rusted-on misogynists, pathological liars and diabolical predators in their midst but maintains a congo line of callously inhumane sociopaths, xenophobic racists, arrogant “swinging dicks” (as their own colleague, Julie Bishop, so aptly described them) and avaricious, self-serving elitists within their ranks – most of whom have become “instant” multi-millionaires at OUR expense! These types of depraved individuals seem to be attracted into the fold of the LNP like a magnet! You only have to look at the dark history of LNP MPs (past and present) like the war criminal, John Howard; the misogynistic Tony Abbott; the bullying predators like Christian Porter and Allan Tudge and the pathological liar and ex-signed-up member of the paedophile-protecting CULT of Hillsong, the inhumane, nauseating bible-thumping hypocrite: Scott Morrison – to see just how truly depraved the LNP “swinging dicks” really are! Now, just watch them all scream, shout and whine about the inevitable result in this Lehrmann case! What is worse, is that the ignominious racist sociopath, Peter Dutton, is waiting in the wings to take over the reigns of the worst, most corrupt and fascist regime in living memory, like some demonic Behemoth!
If there is any REAL justice here – considering that this sexual predator doesn’t look like he will face any justifiable jail time – is that Lerhrmann will now face WHOPPING legal costs that will hit him where it REALLY hurts these avaricious ultra-conservative hypocrites and that is right in the pocket! Bankruptcy for this creature is the very LEAST the deplorable Lehrmann should endure. Let’s hope that the dysfunctional LNP don’t try to use hard-earned taxpayer funds to help bail Lehrmann out of his debt – nothing surprises me about the self-serving, undemocratic LNP regime any more!
I’ll bet the little creep is now wishing he’d accepted the offer rather than trying to go for the big cash grab.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-23/bruce-lehrmann-refused-settle-offer-network-ten-wilkinson/103755196