Brittany Higgins: court hears how a dream job turned into the nightmare of alleged rape

Brittany Higgins, a ‘bubbly’ and ‘happy’ young woman, became withdrawn, her friends, family and colleagues told court. Composite: AAP

In her final memory before blacking out, Brittany Higgins paused for a moment of reflection, she told those closest to her.

From a window perched high among parliament’s labyrinthine network of office suites and hallways, she looked out over the prime minister’s courtyard, quiet in the early morning darkness of 23 March 2019.