The ABC’s managing director says $100,000 will be paid to Christian Porter’s lawyer for mediation costs.

David Anderson also revealed that the national broadcaster spent $680,000 defending itself against a now-defunct defamation claim lodged by the former attorney-general in March.

Former defence minister Linda Reynolds has told Senate Estimates that sustained attacks from Labor over her response to Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations put her in hospital.

During a heated exchange in Senate Estimates, Senator Reynolds suggested for the first time that it was the tumult surrounding her response to Ms Higgins’ claims, and not a pre-existing heart condition, which forced her to take medical leave.

Brittany Higgins is in hospital following months of intense political pressure, The Guardian reports.

The former Liberal staffer was admitted to hospital last Thursday night amid concerns for her welfare, months after she publicly alleged that a colleague raped her in Parliament House in 2019.

A friend of the woman who claimed she had been raped by Christian Porter decades ago is now threatening to sue the former attorney-general.

Jo Dyer, who brought an action that saw one of Mr Porter’s barristers dropped from the now-defunct case, accused the MP of “continuing defamatory comments of me”.

The ABC has fired back at Christian Porter over a press conference where he accused the national broadcaster of a “humiliating backdown”.

The former attorney-general seized on the ABC’s decision to add an editor’s note to an online article alleging that an unnamed cabinet minister had been accused of rape as evidence of regret.

Christian Porter has discontinued defamation action against the ABC and journalist Louise Milligan.

In a statement announcing the news, the national broadcaster said it has agreed to pay costs of mediation but will not be required to pay any damages to Mr Porter.

Christian Porter’s star barrister, Sue Chrysantou SC, has been forced to stand down in his high-profile defamation case against the ABC.

Justice Thomas Thawley ruled that she should stand aside due to a conflict of interest which could present a “danger of misuse”.

We’ve broken it all down for you.

NSW Families Minister Gareth Ward has released a statement identifying himself as the subject of a police investigation into 2013 sexual violence incidents.

In a statement he said,

A 39-year-old NSW government MP is being investigated for sexual violence incidents reported to have occurred in 2013.

In a statement, NSW Police said Strike Force Condello has been established to investigate the claims.

Seven months after the Commonwealth was criticised for allocating a measly $240 million towards women, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced a $3.4 billion dollar package for women’s economic security, health and safety.

We’ve combed through the budget papers so you don’t have to, to find out what was really in it for women… and what’s still missing.

Former Attorney-General Christian Porter is fighting to have the ABC’s defence against his defamation claim kept from the public.

In March, he launched legal action against the ABC and Louise Milligan for a February article alleging that an unnamed Cabinet Minister had been accused of rape in 1988.

Following immediate criticism, the Federal Government pulls the ‘milkshake’ and ‘shark’ videos from the Good Society website.

The two videos – part of a $3.7 million taxpayer-funded campaign – were among the most heavily criticised for their attempt to address the topic of consent.

A series of videos included as part of the Government’s ‘Good Society’ website come under fire with experts and public commentators blasting the content as being “confusing”, “unhelpful” and “cringeworthy”.

The videos avoid any use of the words ‘sex’, ‘assault’ or ‘rape’ and instead use a series of metaphors to illustrate issues around sexual assault and consent. One of the videos depicts a girl covering a boy’s face in ice-cream after he refuses to drink her milkshake – an obscure nod to the concept of consent and sexual assault.

The government launches ‘The Good Society’ website – an online resource for teaching consent in schools as part of the Respect Matters Program.

The website includes more than 350 videos, digital stories, podcasts and other materials are made available free to teachers, students and families designed to “support respectful relationships education in all Australian schools”.

Former CEO of Australia Post, Christine Holgate gives explosive evidence at a Senate Committee Hearing, accusing the current CEO, Lucio Di Bartolomeo of having her stood down unlawfully under the public direction of Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Ms Holgate was stood down from her position after revelations the organisation had spent close to $20,000 on four Cartier watches for executives who “deserved” to be rewarded.

More than a year after the Respect@Work report was released in January 2020, the Federal government announces it will adopt all the recommendations put forward by the review including key legislative reforms.

Under the proposed changes, judges and MPs will no longer be exempt from the scope of the Sex Discrimination Act – a key piece of anti-discrimination law which sets out the grounds for sexual harassment as valid grounds for dismissal from a workplace.

Australia’s new Attorney-General and Federal Minister, Michaelia Cash in Perth, WA, Australia. Image credit: Matt Jelonek / Getty Images

Scott Morrison announces a historic cabinet reshuffle, dramatically increasing female representation in senior leadership positions. The new cabinet boasts of the “strongest” female representation an Australian government cabinet has ever had following growing calls for quotas to be introduced to Parliament. Senator Michaelia Cash is appointed as Australia’s new Attorney-General, replacing Christian Porter. Foreign Minister Marise Payne will lead the taskforce of the new ministerial roles – including Women’s Safety and Women’s Economic Security – Mr Morrison describing her role as the “Prime Minister for Women”.

A  third Queensland woman speaks out about the conduct of Queensland Liberal MP Andrew Laming. Crystal White claims Mr Laming took a picture of her bottom on his mobile phone in 2019, while her underwear was exposed as she bent down and filled a fridge with drinks at a landscape supplies business in Brisbane.

The Australian House of Representatives at the Australian Parliament, Canberra, Australia. Image credit: Aditya Joshi

Member for Bowman, Andrew Laming, issues an apology in the House of Representatives just an hour before a major 9News investigation reveals accusations of online abuse of two of his own constituents – both women.

Scott Morrison sits down with A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw for the first exclusive television interview since Brittany Higgins came forward. During the interview, Mr Morrison is grilled about his handling of the situation with Grimshaw asking him, “Where have you been?”

Tracy: “People knew about it. She told people about it. Why was she on her own?”

Exactly three months since Grace Tame was named Australian of the Year, NSW Nationals MP Michael Johnsen identifies himself as the man behind the rape allegations. In a statement, Mr Johnsen says he is “devastated” by the claims made against him. He resigns from his position while police continue their investigation.

“I am confident any investigation will conclude that I am an innocent party.”— Michael Johnsen, NSW Nationals MP

Katoomba, NSW, Australia. Image credit: Tarryn Myburgh

More allegations of sexual violence from within Australian politics come to light when Trish Doyle, the Labor MP for the Blue Mountains, tells the lower house a NSW government MP allegedly raped a sex worker in a “secluded lookout” in the Blue Mountains.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Image credit: David Gray/Getty Images

Later that night, Mr Morrison apologises for the false claims about allegations of workplace harassment within News Corp. During his apology, Mr Morrison accepted his wrongdoing saying he “deeply regrets” his “insensitive response”.

Scott Morrison holds a press conference condemning the actions of his colleagues, labelling their actions as “disgusting” and “sickening”. “The actions of these individuals show a staggering disrespect for the people who work in Parliament, and for the ideals the Parliament is supposed to represent,” he said. The speech stood in stark contrast to the PM’s tone in past media appearances and seemed to reflect a shift toward an acceptance of the frustrations of Australian women.

“This was the speech Australian women had been wanting and wishing to hear for at least a month following a build up of national grief and frustration that the most powerful man in the country hasn’t seemed to grasp how widespread misogyny is … It was a reset, a changing of the script. But without solutions it runs the risk of being seen as a political exercise in self-preservation.”— Patricia Karvelas for the ABC

ABC Journalist Louise Milligan is sued for defamation by Christian Porter over the article published on February 26. A statement put forward by solicitor Rebekah Giles claims Mr Porter was “subjected to trial by media without regard to the presumption of innocence or the rules of evidence and without any proper disclosure of the material said to support the untrue allegations.” The lawsuit sparks intense public debate on freedom of the press and the inadequacy of Australia’s legal system to deal with sexual assault allegations.

“Our democracy relies on an informed public in order to function, and they in turn rely upon public interest journalism. Our defamation laws carry great risk for all litigants, including Christian Porter, the ABC and Louise Milligan. He is entitled to seek to vindicate his reputation, but the process for doing so in our legal system is not well designed to foster an informed public nor to determine questions of criminality or fitness to hold high office.”— Daniel Joyce, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law and Justice at UNSW, for The Guardian

International Women’s Day

“I think feminism comes in waves and I can really feel another major wave is gathering, it’s gathering from activism in our own country and around the world.” – Julia Gillard, 27th Prime Minister of Australia and Chair of Beyond Blue

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces review into workplace culture at Parliament House, March 5, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. Image credit:Mark Evans / Getty Images

The Australian reports the Defence Minister Linda Reynolds called Brittany Higgins a “lying cow”. The publication reports Ms Reynolds made the remark in front of staffers on the day Ms Higgins went public with her allegations. Ms Higgins responded to the reports saying, “The comments made by Minister Reynolds are incredibly hurtful.”

Grace Tame attends an event at the National Press Club on March 3, 2021 in Canberra, Australia. Image credit:Sam Mooy / Stringer

2021 Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, delivers a powerful address to the National Press Club, calling on sexual assault survivors to “share your truth”.

An article is published by ABC investigative journalist Louise Milligan, reveals the Scott Morrison and the AFP have been sent an anonymous letter regarding a 33-year-old allegation of rape against one of his Cabinet ministers. The minister behind the allegations is not named however the article spurs conversation and outrage over toxic workplace culture in Canberra.

The article claims the woman behinds the allegations told NSW police in 2020 but then took her own life before making a formal statement. There are now calls for the minister to be stood down while an investigation is conducted.

Brittany Higgins makes a formal complaint to the AFP about her alleged rape in 2019. The same day, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton reveals to Parliament he was only notified by the AFP about the allegations a few days before Ms Higgins went public.

A fourth woman makes an allegation against the same man accused of raping Brittany Higgins. The woman revealed to ABC’s Four Corners she made a formal complaint to Canberra police. Her identity and the contents of that allegation have not been made public.

“There is a procedural vacuum here … and it’s ugly and it’s upsetting, it’s horrible.”— Annabel Crabb

Two days later, The Australian reports a third woman has given a statutory declaration outlining allegations of sexual assault by the same man during the 2016 election campaign.

“A culture develops whereby those who are prone to inappropriate or unprofessional or even illegal behaviour get a sense of protection.”— Julie Bishop, former Minister for Foreign Affairs (2013 to 2018) and deputy leader of the Liberal Party (2007 to 2018), during the ABC’s 7:30 Report

A second woman tells The Australian she was raped in 2020 by the same man accused of raping Brittany Higgins.

A viral petition, launched by 22-year-old Chanel Contos, reveals more than 500 allegations of sexual assault in high-profile private schools around the country. The allegations include a raft of disturbing testimonies from current and former students detailing their experiences of sexual assault allegedly perpetrated by fellow classmates. The petition signed by well over 5000 people calls for an overhaul of sex education in schools to include more about the issue of consent.

“I am told the ‘perfect storm’ has emerged between Brittany Higgins, and me this year. But there was nothing serendipitous about this timing. The storm did not emerge; it was there the whole time. Australia felt it only as a light drizzle because our society puts up umbrellas so we can ignore the problem.”— Chanel Contos for the Sydney Morning Herald

Scott Morrison again denies knowing about the alleged rape of a former staff member after a series of text messages emerges that appear to show his office was told of Brittany Higgins’ claims soon after it allegedly took place. The text messages were between Ms Higgins and another Liberal Party staffer in early April of 2019. In the texts, the male staffer wrote that he spoke to the Prime Minister’s Office.

“I have sought to be as open and honest as I can be about this matter.”— Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds. Image credit: Matt Jelonek/Getty Images

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds breaks down in tears during question time in the Senate as speculation intensifies over the Federal Government’s response to Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape.

More details surrounding the allegations of Brittany Higgins are brought to light when it is revealed a steam-cleaning of Minister Linda Reynolds was office was ordered by the Department of Finance in the hours after the alleged rape.

“The male privilege in Australia’s parliament has given its members such a sense of exceptionalism, they seem to think the standards of the corporate office or roadworks site should not apply to their workplace.”— Louise Chappell, Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW and Natalie Galea, leading interdisciplinary researcher in gender justice, business and human rights

Brittany Higgins releases a statement about her decision to go public with her story, saying she wants to create change in how Parliament handles incidents of sexual assault and to ensure her perpetrator is put before the court.

“It should not have taken my story, or the story of other victim-survivors to air on national television for the Prime Minister – or any Member of Parliament – to take action on workplace sexual harassment, assault or bullying.”— Brittany Higgins

After denying he knew anything about the allegations, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces two reviews to be undertaken into how parliamentary staff could be better protected against sexual harassment at work.

Brittany Higgins and Lisa Wilkinson at the March 4 Justice in Canberra, Australia. Image credit:Jamila Toderas / Stringer

An article is published by News.com.au detailing allegations of rape by a federal political staffer inside the walls of Australian Parliament. The allegations claim a man working for then-defence industry minister Linda Reynolds took a 24-year-old female media staffer into Parliament House after Friday night drinks in March 2019 and raped her inside Ms Reynold’s office. The young woman behind the allegations is Brittany Higgins.

The year begins with one of Australia’s loudest voices for survivors of child sex abuse, Grace Tame, whose case led to the overturning of a Tasmanian gag laws, being named Australian of the Year.

“When we share, we heal … I remember him saying ‘Don’t tell anybody’. I remember him saying ‘Don’t make a sound’. Hear me now. Using my voice amongst a growing chorus of voices that will not be silenced.”— Grace Tame