By Paul Osborne and Maeve Bannister in Canberra

The ACT government will release the findings from an independent inquiry into the justice system’s handling of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation early after it was given to some media outlets without authorisation.

The government had controversially planned to take time to consider the findings before publication, but after extensive media reporting on Thursday it will be released next week along with an interim response.

A spokeswoman said the government was “disappointed” the board of inquiry report had been released to select media outlets under embargo, a decision that was not authorised by the territory administration.

She said in a statement the unauthorised release of information had harmed people involved.

The government will continue its cabinet process to consider the report’s recommendations.

The inquiry was headed by former Supreme Court judge Walter Sofronoff and delivered its report to the ACT government on July 31.

Mr Sofronoff declined to comment when contacted by AAP.

The ACT government has faced pressure from the opposition and police union to release the report after media outlets published its findings.

The head of the Australian Federal Police Association said that reporting had vindicated his officers over their roles in the rape investigation.

“While we welcomed the inquiry, we knew it would be the only way to reveal the truth,” Alex Caruana said.

“We were always confident that the investigating officers had conducted a thorough and professional investigation from day one.”

Mr Caruana said the government should also consider investigating who leaked the report.

The report reportedly includes negative findings against ACT chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold, who oversaw the court case against Ms Higgins’ accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann.

Mr Lehrmann was charged with raping his fellow Liberal staffer at Parliament House after a night out in 2019, but he denies the allegations.

His trial was aborted due to juror misconduct and prosecutors later dropped the charge over fears about the impact of a second trial on Ms Higgins’ mental health.

Mr Drumgold has taken leave until the end of the month while the government considers the findings.

The ACT government spokeswoman said the territory’s attorney-general had been in contact with the prosecutor about the inquiry findings that related to him.

Mr Drumgold told the inquiry he believed police had a “passion” for the prosecution to fail based on a series of “strange events” during the investigation and trial.

But despite calling for an inquiry on that basis, Mr Drumgold later conceded his original belief might actually have been due to a “skills deficit” on the part of police.

The inquiry revealed confusion within the police force about when to charge a suspect.

ACT Liberal leader Elizabeth Lee said there was no justification for Chief Minister Andrew Barr to keep the report under wraps.

“Andrew Barr and (Attorney-General) Shane Rattenbury must demonstrate leadership and ministerial responsibility for these findings,” she said.

Mr Lehrmann wrote on his Instagram account the report had revealed what he and his legal team suspected, exposing a “dark chapter for the ACT justice system”.

Newspaper scoop lays bare the Sofronoff findings

No reasonable reason to delay Sofronoff Inquiry findings

News all day, every day at CityNews.com.au.