Former Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle says he’s ‘sorry’ for his actions involving sexual misconduct

Breaking a three-year silence, Robert Doyle says he’s ‘very sorry’ to his victims, family after being found guilty of harassing multiple women.

Robert Doyle has apologised to his victims and family after being found guilty of sexual misconduct.

Disgraced former Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle has apologised publicly for the first time to his victims and family after he was involved in multiple accounts of sexual misconduct.

The 67-year-old said he was “very sorry” for his actions that resulted in inappropriate behaviour towards younger females, saying it had cost him dearly.

“When you see the pain you’ve caused and the potential pain I might cause to my children, grandchildren, yes, it’s up there,” he told 3AW radio host Neil ­Mitchell.

“I’ve lost my family, I’ve lost love, I’ve lost relationships, I’ve lost friendships, I’ve lost health, I’ve lost reputation. But it’s not about Robert the victim … actions have consequences.”

Three separate inquiries found Mr Doyle engaged in in­appropriate behaviour with multiple women during his tenure as lord mayor.

Breaking a three-year silence, he fought back tears after revealing the harm he had caused to so many people. “Doing this interview wasn’t about self-justification or forgiveness or anything like that, that was not the point of it, the point was to try and make some reparation for harm,” he said. “The first thing you do is to own the harm that you’ve caused, accept the consequences that have fallen from it and apologise.”

Mr Doyle was lord mayor for 10 years until February 2018 when he resigned after allegations of sexual harassment.

He was also a Liberal MP for Malvern from 1992 to 2006 and opposition leader from 2002 to 2006.

He was found to have engaged in “sleazy” behaviour and “serious misconduct of a sexual nature” after placing his hand on the inside of Kharla Williams’s leg while sitting next to her at a Melbourne Health dinner event in 2016; he was president at the time.

Other sexual allegations were aired by several women including councillors Tessa Sullivan and Cathy Oke.

Mr Doyle said he had since sought mental health help and also how to better manage the use of alcohol. He has three adult children from his first marriage and a son with second wife Emma Page Campbell; they split up during the misconduct probes.