Brittany Higgins appears at a women’s justice march in Canberra

Brittany Higgins has made a bombshell appearance at a women’s justice march right in front of Parliament House in Canberra.

Brittany Higgins has taken a swipe at Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a surprise appearance at the March 4 Justice women’s rally outside Parliament House.

Ms Higgins attracted national attention after she made a distressing rape allegation against a male colleague in a government minister’s office inside Parliament House in March 2019.

Ms Higgins told the crowd that she had watched much of the drama from the revelation play out in the media.

Brittany Higgins embraced March 4 Justice organiser Janine Hendry at the rally outside Parliament House. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

“I watched as the Prime Minister of Australia publicly apologised to me through the media, while privately the media team actively undermined and discredited my love ones,” Ms Higgins said.

“I tuned into Question Time to see my former bosses, people that I had dedicated my life to, downplay my lived experience.

“I have read the news updates every day at 5am because I was waking up to new information about my own sexual assault through the media — details that were never disclosed to me by my employers, information that would have helped me as questions that have haunted me for years.”

Former Liberal party staffer Brittany Higgins has addressed large crowds at a women’s justice rally outside Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

The crowd roared in approval during her speech.

“I watched as people hid behind throwaway phrases like due process and presumption of innocence while failing to acknowledge how the justice system is notoriously stacked against victims of sexual crime,” she continued.

“I read the advice from defence chief Angus Campbell who advised women on how not to fall prey to those who have the proclivity to harm others, advice aimed solely at modifying the behaviour of victims and does nothing to address the actions of perpetrators.

“This isn’t a political problem. This is a human problem. We’ve all learned over the past few weeks just how common gendered violence is in this country. It’s time our leaders on both sides of politics stop avoiding the public and sidestepping accountability. It’s time we actually address the problem.”

Brittany Higgins stands with March 4 Justice organiser Janine Hendry before her speech. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

Ms Higgins said coming forward and telling her distressing story was the “only thing that I could do to say that I didn’t co-sign this behaviour”.

“By staying silent, I felt like it would have made me complicit, and if something of this nature had ever happened again, my ongoing silence would have inadvertently said to those people in charge that you can treat people in this way and it’s OK,” she said.

“I want to be clear – it’s not! So I have spoken out with what little I have to say this isn’t OK and they need to do better. We all need to do better.”

Women gather in Melbourne to participate in a nationwide Australian women’•s justice rally. Picture: David Geraghty/NCA NewsWire

Earlier Channel 10 reporter Lisa Wilkinson, who interviewed Ms Higgins over the alleged rape in February, told the crowd: “Brittany Higgins will not be silenced. Women at rallies right across this country right now will not be silenced.”

Susie Beaver was outside parliament to do her part in solving “the issue of our time”.

“I have a daughter, I have friends, I’ll have grandchildren at some stage. It’s all about women and looking out for them,” she told NCA NewsWire.

Susie, a mother to both a daughter and son, said it was “incredibly important” men understood they had a role in fixing the problem.

“That’s why there’s men here as well as women. My son’s here (and) I’m super proud of that because he’d just do it as a matter of course,” she said.

Despite a confronting three weeks of allegations, Susie said there was “no other way for it” other than to feel optimistic about the future.

“I think this shows that people from all ages, from kids up to great-grandparents are all here: male and female, all sensible, interested and dedicated people, so let’s hope there’s change this time,” she said.

Independent MP Zali Steggall said men and women across Australia were tired of the status quo, saying women had “had enough of the inequities”.

“They’re tired of all the words but very little action. They want to see legislative change, so that sexual harassment is illegal for everyone, especially that there not be double standards where MPs have different rules for them,” she told NCA NewsWire.

She said Prime Minister Scott Morrison had not done enough to show he was listening.

“I don’t think women are sufficiently heard by this government. I don’t think the Prime Minister, through his actions, has shown that he gets it,” she said.

But she said the past weeks had shown a “coming together” of men and women, especially senior women.

“The senior (female) journalists are all calling this out, ensuring this story and these events are not relegated to the back page, that they stay on the front page until there is a satisfactory resolution,” she said.

“(But) it is senior members of parliament that need to stand up, it is members of the crossbench.

“We are professional women in a position where we can make a difference, and we’ll continue to do that.”

Since Ms Higgins spoke out last month, several more allegations have surfaced against Australian politicians and political staffers.

It has sparked hundreds-of-thousands of women to take to the streets across the country, with more than 40 Women’s March 4 Justice rallies planned across Australia.

Brittany Higgins says the culture at Canberra Parliament House must change, while addressing crowds at the Women's March 4 Justice Rally. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

In Canberra, a petition demanding action on gendered violence will be presented at federal Parliament.

The petition calls for investigations into gendered violence, more public funding for gendered violence prevention, and a federal gender equality act.

March organisers have rejected a meeting with Prime Minister Scott Morrison in his office, and they are calling for him to come and speak to them at the rally outside federal Parliament.