Brittany Higgins Appointed Executive Director of Vida Fund to Combat Misogyny and Far-Right Politics

Brittany Higgins has taken on a new leadership role as executive director of the Vida Fund, a progressive fundraising and advocacy organization established to support independent candidates and advance gender equity reforms. The fund, named after Australian suffragist Vida Goldstein, previously helped bankroll several teal-backed female candidates in 2025 and donated over $500,000 to independent MPs including Monique Ryan, Kate Chaney, and Helen Haines. Higgins announced the organization would target the growing influence of the "new right," including One Nation, which polling data shows now has more female supporters than male and is experiencing broader demographic growth. She criticized both conservative parties and the Labor government for insufficient progress on gender equality, while specifically targeting One Nation's stance on reproductive rights and track record on violence against women. Higgins rose to prominence in 2021 after alleging she was raped inside Parliament House by colleague Bruce Lehrmann; while criminal proceedings were discontinued, a civil court later found on the balance of probabilities that he had raped her, and she received a $2.4 million Commonwealth settlement. The Vida Fund's three-year strategy focuses on gender equity, democratic reform, and countering far-right political movements.