By Maeve Bannister in Canberra

THE head of a victim support service has stood by her decision to publicly accompany Brittany Higgins to the criminal trial of the man she accused of raping her, despite criticism.

ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner Heidi Yates gave evidence to the independent Sofronoff Inquiry examining how the justice system handled the high-profile case.

Ms Yates acted as a support person for Ms Higgins during the investigation and trial at the request of the former Liberal staffer.

Ms Higgins alleges she was raped inside a ministerial office at Parliament House by her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann after a night out. Mr Lehrmann has always denied the allegation.

On Thursday, Ms Yates said no one on Mr Lehrmann’s defence team, within the prosecutor’s office or the police force, raised an issue with her attending court alongside Ms Higgins each day.

“If at any point, including at trial, any concerns had been raised with me about the support I was providing Ms Higgins I would have absolutely considered those,” she said.

Ms Yates told the inquiry she was concerned about how small the circle of people Ms Higgins trusted was.

In her statement, Ms Yates said she considered it appropriate for her to attend court alongside Ms Higgins who had a low level of trust in parts of the justice system.

She said intense public interest and hostility towards Ms Higgins also contributed to her decision.

“I’m confident with the information available to me at the time I made a fair decision to balance all the things I needed to balance,” she said.

Ms Yates was also questioned about her decision to stand alongside Ms Higgins as she delivered a statement outside of court after a mistrial was declared.

The commissioner said she was primarily concerned about Ms Higgins’ welfare and wanted to get her back to her accommodation as soon as possible.

She was aware Ms Higgins would make a statement to reporters but did not focus on what would be said.

Counsel assisting the inquiry Erin Longbottom highlighted Ms Yates’ “conspicuous” presence with Ms Higgins outside court when she gave the  statement.

“It has been suggested that the actions of Ms Yates at a time when there was a fresh trial had the propensity to affect the presumption of innocence to which Mr Lehrmann was entitled,” Ms Longbottom said.

Ms Yates was asked if she accepted it may be problematic for her, as the commissioner, to stand next to Ms Higgins while she made a statement which referenced the truth of her allegations.

“I honestly can say I did not consider that on that day,” Ms Yates said.

“I’m very open to the likelihood that if I had all the information to consider I would have made a different decision,” she said.

Prosecutors ultimately dropped the charge against Mr Lehrmann due to fears of the impact of a second trial on Ms Higgins’ mental health.

Earlier, tensions between the right to the presumption of innocence and support for someone who purports to be a victim of crime were put under the inquiry microscope.

Ms Longbottom said a victim of crime in the ACT was considered to be a “person who plausibly claims to be a victim of crime”.

But this had implications for presumption of innocence entitlements.

She highlighted the tensions between Ms Yates being in a role that operated within the Human Rights Commission, and the presumption of innocence as a human right.