Former senator Linda Reynolds will attempt mediation to settle claim against Commonwealth and its lawyers

Former WA senator Linda Reynolds will head to mediation with the Commonwealth and its lawyers in an attempt to settle her claim against them. Ms Reynolds is suing her former employer and its lawyers HWL Ebsworth in the Federal Court of Australia over claims they were negligent in handling Brittany Higgins’ $2.4m compensation payment. She says the Commonwealth was vicariously responsible for the conduct of its former Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, who authorised a multimillion-dollar payment to Ms Higgins following her rape allegation and instructed lawyers acting on the federal government’s behalf. Ms Higgins was awarded the taxpayer-funded payout after she went public with allegations that she was raped in Ms Reynolds’ defence ministry office at Parliament House by her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann, a claim he has continued to deny. She claimed in media interviews that Ms Reynolds was involved in a political cover-up about her rape. Ms Reynolds claims she was never given an opportunity to defend allegations made against her when the Commonwealth settled with Ms Higgins. While the National Anti-Corruption Commission cleared the Federal government of any misconduct over its handling of the compensation payment, Ms Reynolds is now pursuing legal action in the Federal Court. At a case management hearing on Tuesday, the parties agreed to go to mediation in an attempt to settle the claim. Speaking to media outside court, Ms Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett said he hoped to have good faith and frank discussions with the Commonwealth and Ebsworth, otherwise the matter would progress to civil action. “No reason to think that the Commonwealth as a model citizen wouldn’t attend in good faith, but one doesn’t know,” Mr Bennett said. “They don’t owe a duty to anyone other than themselves.” Mr Bennett said his client now seemed to be regaining more of her health and strength and was excited about opportunities that existed outside of Parliament, but she was still determined to deal with what happened. Separately, he said they were waiting to see a transcript from the documentary Silenced, which discusses how the law is used to prevent women from speaking up about sexual abuse and features Ms Higgins. The film, funded by the Federal government, has screened in the US but has yet to be released in Australia. “She’s seen the promotion on the basis of the weaponsiation of defamation actions to shut down legitimate complaints of victims,” Mr Bennett said. “That’s so inappropriate given Ms Reynolds’ action against Ms Higgins, it is extraordinary. “That’s one to watch more very closely.”