In the wake of the #metoo movement, there has been a flurry of memoirs and commentary both in Australia and internationally in which authors foreground their own experiences of sexual assault and the barriers to obtaining justice. The book is deeply researched, with Milligan drawing on her history of reporting on clerical abuse in addition to interviewing barristers, academics, judges, and of course, witnesses. Released in 2020 and shortlisted for the 2021 Stella Prize, Witness reveals how ill-equipped the criminal justice system is to serve the interests of victims of sexual assault. This question motivated her to write her second book Witness. How, she wondered in the aftermath, can traumatised victims of sexual assault survive cross-examination?

Yet she found the experience devastatingly brutal. By the time her day in court had arrived, Milligan had received a law degree from the University of Melbourne, had worked as a court reporter for a number of years, and was represented by a Queen’s Counsel with the backing of the ABC’s own legal team. Milligan was also called as a witness in that trial as she was the first person to whom one of the complainants divulged an allegation of abuse (the ‘witness of first complaint’). Her book on the subject, Cardinal, was famously withheld from sale in Victoria while Pell faced trial.

Journalist Louise Milligan shot to national prominence following her reporting on sexual abuse allegations against both Cardinal George Pell and the clergy more broadly.

Witness louise milligan