Man accused of raping Brittany Higgins at Parliament House charged, will protest innocence

ACT Policing on Friday served the 26-year-old Queensland man's legal team with a summons for him to face court on one count of sexual intercourse without consent.

"Police will allege the man had sexual intercourse with a woman without consent at Parliament House on Saturday, 23 March 2019," the force said in a statement.

But the accused man's barrister, John Korn, told The Canberra Times the man would vigorously deny that.

"My client absolutely and unequivocally denies that any form of sexual activity, whatsoever, took place at all," Mr Korn said on Friday night.

"He will be defending this charge."

Ms Higgins went public in February with allegations she had been raped by a colleague in the office of federal government minister Linda Reynolds.

She initially spoke to detectives from ACT Policing's sexual assault and child abuse team in April 2019, but she only made a formal complaint earlier this year.

"Detectives have since spoken to a number of witnesses and collected evidence as part of the investigation," ACT Policing said on Friday afternoon.

A dedicated team of five investigators, led by a detective inspector, has worked on the high-profile case.

The officers consulted with ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC, providing him with a partial brief of evidence in June and seeking his counsel.

Mr Drumgold gave his advice a week later.

The case of the man who has subsequently been charged has been listed in the ACT Magistrates Court for September 16.

People charged on summons in the ACT often do not appear in person during the early stages of their matter if they are legally represented, so the man may not attend court on that date.

The maximum penalty for sexual intercourse without consent is 12 years in jail.