A woman who says she was sexually assaulted by the former Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle has criticised the City of Melbourne for failing to make its investigation public, despite Doyle withdrawing legal action on Friday.
In March, the council released a summary of an investigation led by Ian Freckelton QC, which found that Doyle sexually harassed fellow councillors Tessa Sullivan and Cathy Oke, and made the council an unsafe workplace for them. An investigation into allegations by a third complainant has not been made public because it wasn’t finished, due to Doyle launching legal action and the supreme court granting an injunction halting the council from finishing its investigation.
The case was due to be heard on Monday, but the City of Melbourne said Doyle had withdrawn the legal action at the last minute.
The injunction had prevented the City of Melbourne from concluding a second investigation into Doyle about his conduct at a medical awards dinner he attended in 2016 when he was the mayor. Kharla Williams had said Doyle had repeatedly touched her inner thigh at the VIP table of the Melbourne Health event, which she had attended in support of her husband, who received an award.
The City of Melbourne chief executive officer, Justin Hanney, said Doyle’s decision to withdraw the legal action meant the council could proceed with Freckelton’s independent investigation.
“We have always sought to ensure the independent investigation progressed as quickly as possible in the interest of all parties, as well as in the broader public interest in this matter,” Hanney said.
On Monday, Williams made a formal complaint with the Victorian police relating to the alleged assault, saying she felt the City of Melbourne wanted her to “be silent and go away”.
But Hanney said it would now proceed with finishing the investigation.
“When the police investigation is concluded, the findings of Dr Freckelton’s investigation can be made public… in the best interest of all parties,” he said.
However, Williams described the council’s decision not to publish the report as soon as possible as a “slap in the face”.
“This will be another 12 months,” she told AAP. “And police advised due to the variance in balance of probability versus within all reasonable doubt, findings via the civil investigation will not have any weight to the outcome.”
The police were yet to interview her husband, his daughter and the waiter on the night, she added.
Doyle has repeatedly denied the allegations.
