On learning that the latest settlement conference, scheduled for Wednesday, 3 November, was cancelled by the government over claims that those required to approve compensation packages were unavailable, Ms Eggerking said: “I felt gutted when my lawyers told me the Commonwealth cancelled the negotiation.”

Ms Eggerking said that since the High Court’s own investigation found Mr Heydon had sexually harassed six women, she has gone “above and beyond” to provide the government with evidence of the harm she has suffered because of the harassment.

“Every week this matter continues is an extra week I have to manage life with debilitating anxiety caused by post-traumatic stress disorder, where every step, every communication in this compensation process triggers my illness,” she said.

“Every week is an extra week I have no income as the precariousness of my mental health makes it too difficult to work. Every week is a week I am not able to direct my energies towards improving my mental health and moving beyond this chapter.”

Chief Justice Susan Kiefel confirmed the findings in June 2020 and said they were of “extreme concern”. The Chief Justice also added that she made sincere apologies to the six women, praised them for coming forward with their stories and would share with the court their “insights and suggestions for change” to the culture.

Although the state’s major bar associations and law societies have made changes to policies and practices to ensure that sexual harassment reporting is made easier for victims, this same effort has not yet been mirrored by the government. Maurice Blackburn, which is representing three of the women, are calling on both Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Attorney-General Michaelia Cash to personally intervene.

National employment team leader Josh Bornstein said that from the outset, he had warned the federal government that delaying the process of resolving this matter would only “engender further harm to three women who all lost their legal careers as a result of the unlawful, predatory conduct of Dyson Heydon”. The inaction from Mr Morrison and Ms Cash, he added, is prolonging their trauma.

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“When it comes to addressing the scourge of sexual harassment and discrimination, we see time and again that the Morrison government favours performative gestures over decisive action. Senator Cash could, with a phone call, draw a line under the darkest chapter in the High Court’s recent history,” Mr Bornstein said.

Mr Bornstein said that he had provided the federal government with detailed medical and actuarial reports, and each of the women has undergone an independent medical examination. Because of this, they have each been confronted “with the enormity of the damage that justice Heydon’s conduct inflicted” on them.

“No one who has suffered trauma and loss like the women I represent deserves the added indignity of having their interests essentially ignored,” Mr Bornstein said.

Mr Bornstein confirmed that the legal team has attempted to meet with the Morrison government on numerous occasions over the last 18 months at their own expense, with each of the victims providing “every imaginable detail” in support of their claims.

“What message does the Commonwealth’s delay send to the community? To women? To victims of workplace sexual harassment?” Ms Eggerking said.

“Is this what accountability looks like for wrongdoing by one of the country’s most powerful men – wrongdoing that was found to have occurred by the High Court’s own investigation, wrongdoing that the Commonwealth is not disputing?”