Brittany Higgins has less than $10,000 in assets with the rest of her multi-million dollar Commonwealth payout locked away in a managed trust.
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The 29-year-old continues to defend a defamation action by her former boss, Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds, and during the latest in a string of court cases on Wednesday the politician won the right to access details of the trust.
The former defence minister, who plans to retire from politics at the next election, is suing Ms Higgins for damages over a series of social media posts she says damaged her reputation.
Ahead of an August trial for that case, the senator's legal team on Wednesday prevailed over Ms Higgins' legal team in a skirmish to access Ms Higgins' trust documents.
It was created in late 2022 to hold the proceeds of a $2.4 million financial settlement made with the federal government amid claims she was not supported by Senator Reynolds after Bruce Lehrmann allegedly raped her.
Senator Reynolds' lawyer Martin Bennett told the Supreme Court in Perth his client wants the document to understand who the trustee is and what jurisdiction's laws are relevant to it.
It could lead to the senator instigating further court action to have trust funds restored to Ms Higgins before the defamation trial judgment is handed down.
"(It) is likely to be the only process by which Senator Reynolds recovers damages and costs in the event she's successful," he told reporters outside court.
"If you're out of pocket, and you've mortgaged your house to the hilt to pay for litigation, recovering those costs is something you try and do as soon as possible."
During the hearing, the court was told an affidavit penned by one of Ms Higgins' lawyers, Leon Zwier, in June stated she had net assets worth less than $10,000.
"We know that from all intents and purposes, Ms Higgins leads a wonderful lifestyle of travel and events," Mr Bennett said as he outlined the reasons why his client wanted to access the trust deed.
Her lawyers fought the application, saying it was speculative, futile, premature and unnecessary because the Bankruptcy Act provided measures to enable the senator to access funds if she won the defamation case.
They also raised the tension created by Senator Reynolds' concerns about whether the compensation given to Ms Higgins could have to be returned to the Commonwealth and her potential bid to access it for damages.
Senator Reynolds' legal team said the trust was created to protect Ms Higgins from future creditors, such as the Commonwealth, Mr Lehrmann, Penguin Australia and her.
Chief Justice Peter Quinlan said its name - the Brittany Higgins Protective Trust - suggested it was created to protect her from something or someone but there was no direct evidence to support the senator's claim.
He said it could have been created to protect Ms Higgins from exploitation amid her ongoing health challenges.
However, Chief Justice Quinlan concluded it was in the interests of justice for Senator Reynolds to be granted discovery of the trust documents.
He also said it may be the only way Senator Reynolds can collect damages if she wins her defamation case before urging the parties to resolve their disputes before the trial.
"I don't want to sound like King Canute trying to hold back the ocean," he said.
"It's not too late for these parties to take the resolution of all disputes between them into their own hands."
Lehrmann denied raping Ms Higgins and that case ended in a mistrial, with prosecutors withdrawing the charge and ruling out a new trial due to concern for Ms Higgins' mental health.
Justice Michael Lee in April found to the civil standard that Lehrmann did, on the balance of probabilities, rape Ms Higgins and dismissed his defamation proceedings against Network Ten.
Australian Associated Press
