Disgraced former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann is fighting to safeguard personal diaries that were seized during a raid on his home by the anti-corruption watchdog.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission conducted the search in June 2024 amid an investigation into claims Lehrmann misappropriated secret documents related to French submarines.
Lehrmann denies the allegation and claims investigators seized only two handwritten personal diaries during the raid.
The former political staffer told the Federal Court the diaries contained confidential information that should not be disclosed due to a claim of legal professional privilege.
"Those diaries ... may become an issue. It's my concern that they're held by (NACC Commissioner Paul Brereton)," Lehrmann said on Wednesday.
"My submission would be that they should be held by an independent party and quarantined."
But commission lawyer Bora Kaplan said his client had not received a claim of legal professional privilege from Lehrmann.
Justice Brigitte Markovic said she was not sure she had the power to make the orders sought by Lehrmann, and suggested he communicate with the commission about the diaries.
"If it's necessary to raise the matter in court, that can be done in due course," she said.
Lehrmann is suing Mr Brereton and federal Labor government minister Don Farrell for legal costs incurred during an NACC investigation into what he described as "frivolous, 'James Bond' like allegations".
He claims he was repeatedly told he was entitled to funding for legal representation to defend himself during the investigation, but he still has not received any money.
Justice Markovic noted it had been a year without a decision from the commission on whether funding would be provided.
She ordered mediation between Lehrmann and Mr Farrell before December 1 in the hope of speeding the process along.
Lehrmann welcomed the move, which he believes could be successful in resolving his dispute with the minister.
"This is the second time I've proposed mediation with (Mr Farrell). On both occasions, I've been refused," he said.
"If funding had been granted, we may not even be here, and if we can seek a resolution through mediation, then there'll be no need to pursue action as against (Mr Farrell)".
The call for mediation was opposed by the minister's lawyer, who rejected his contention that there was an unreasonable delay in processing the request for funding.
Justice Markovic ordered the mediation be resolved by December and set the matter down for a one-day hearing in February 2026.
Lehrmann is accused of gathering the confidential information in March 2019, only days after he was alleged to have raped his colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House.
He has denied the claims, which remain untested in a criminal court after a 2022 trial in the ACT was abandoned due to juror misconduct.
But the Federal Court's Justice Michael Lee found in 2024 the allegations he raped Ms Higgins were proven on the balance of probabilities and dismissed his defamation suit against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.
Lehrmann has appealed against the defamation loss.
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