Former high court justice Dyson Heydon has been accused of inappropriate behaviour by four more former staff, the court has revealed.
The ex-judge has faced three new allegations of sexual harassment and one additional allegation of bullying but is unlikely to face repercussions because all four complainants do not want the matters investigated.
The revelation comes after a bombshell independent review found Heydon had sexually harassed six of his former associates. Heydon denied the complaints when they were made public in June.
The chief justice of the high court, Susan Kiefel, said at the time the findings were of “extreme concern” to her and the justices were “ashamed this could have happened at the high court of Australia”.
On Thursday, the high court chief executive, Philippa Lynch, revealed that after reaching out to other former staff, eight former associates and one former staff member had come forward to speak to Vivienne Thom, the former inspector general of intelligence and security, who conducted the review.
While some had offered information relating to the original six complainants, four disclosed new complaints.
A spokesman for the high court told Guardian Australia: “The four individuals who made allegations to Dr Thom were very clear that, although they wanted this information to be provided to the court, they were not making formal complaints and did not expect, or want, these matters to be investigated.”
The spokesman said that “Thom did not recommend that any further action be taken in respect of these discussions”.
Lynch told the Senate estimates committee on Thursday the court had introduced a new human resources policy to clarify that the obligation of confidentiality with respect to judicial work did not prevent staff speaking up about “workplace issues”.
She also revealed the Australian federal police’s ACT policing division had requested a copy of Thom’s report.
Lynch said that because the report contained “sensitive information” received in confidence, the court did not provide a copy. Instead, it contacted the original six complainants and passed on the police request for the parts of the report that related to them.
In July, ACT policing revealed it had received no complaints or allegations against Heydon since the Thom inquiry found he had harassed associates while a judge.
The ACT’s director of public prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, had referred allegations against Heydon to ACT policing for investigation.
