Museum mulls Higgins ‘suffragette’ dress

The ‘suffragette white’ dress worn by Brittany Higgins at the Women’s March 4 Justice rally has been given to a national museum.

The dress Brittany Higgins wore to the Women's March 4 Justice Rally in Canberra, in 2021, has been given to the Museum of Australian Justice. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The “suffragette white” dress Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins wore to the Women’s March 4 Justice rally has been given to the Museum of Australian Democracy.

Higgins at the 2021 rally in Canberra. Picture: Getty Images

The Australian can reveal the iconic Reiss dress was offered to the museum, at Old Parliament House in Canberra, in April 2022.

A MoAD spokesperson on Thursday confirmed the museum received the white Farah-Belted Utility Pocket Dress Ms Higgins wore when she addressed the Canberra rally in March 2021, a few weeks after going public with her allegation she had been raped two years earlier inside Parliament House.

“The dress has been received and is currently undergoing the standard collection acquisition process,” the MoAD spokesperson said.

“While it’s under consideration, MoAD is not in a position to disclose personal details about donation offers.

“The object is not part of our collection at this point in time.”

A spokeswoman for Ms Higgins on Thursday said MoAD had reached out to the 28-year-old after her partner, David Sharaz, jokingly tagged the cultural institution in an Instagram post featuring his fiancee wearing the dress with the caption “this should be in a museum”.

“Britt did an in-depth interview with MoAD about the particulars of the dress and the conscious link to honour the suffragette movement, including the history and accessibility of white fabric for women,” her spokeswoman said.

The $575 dress is still available at David Jones.

About 110,000 people attended Women’s March 4 Justice rallies in more than 40 cities and towns across the country on March 15, 2021 calling for widespread changes around gendered violence.

While most March 4 Justice rally attendees wore “funeral black”, Ms Higgins’ symbolic sartorial choice to wear white intentionally referenced suffragette history to draw attention to gender inequity.

A month later, former Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate wore a white blazer when she made a lengthy submission to a Senate inquiry claiming she was “unlawfully” stood down before being abandoned to a “media firestorm” following the Cartier watch bonus controversy.

At the 2021 rally, Ms Higgins told about 5000 attendees gathered on the lawn outside Parliament House in Canberra that politicians and all Australians “need to do better” to support victims of sexual violence.

Ms Higgins’ nearly 10-minute speech marked her first public appearance after publicly sharing the story of her alleged rape by fellow staffer Bruce Lehrmann in Linda Reynolds’ ministerial suite in the early hours of March 23, 2019. Mr Lehrmann denies the allegation.

“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,” she told the audience.

“I encourage each and every one of you to set boundaries for yourself and be ruthless in your defence of them. Speak up. Share your truth and know that you have a generation of women ready, willing and able to support you.

“Take ownership of your story and free yourself from the stigma of shame. Together, we can bring about real, meaningful reform to the workplace culture inside Parliament House and, hopefully, every workplace, to ensure the next generation of women can benefit from a safer and more equitable Australia.”

Network Ten journalist Lisa Wilkinson – who Mr Lehrmann is now suing for defamation over her interview with Ms Higgins that aired on The Project in February 2021 – also spoke at the rally. “Brittany Higgins will not be silenced,” Wilkinson said.

“What has left me in awe is the way this country has responded to this story. Finally we are having the conversations we have been aching to have for far too long.”