The ACT Government has announced that it will release both the Sofronoff report into the conduct of criminal justice agencies involved in Bruce Lehrmann’s trial for the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins and its interim response to the recommendations early next week.

The Australian published the findings of the Board Inquiry last night, including an allegedly damning judgement on ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr had received the report on Monday. A spokesperson said then that the ACT Government would consider the report through “a proper Cabinet process”, expected to take up to four weeks. However, the Canberra Liberals had called for it to be released immediately.

The Board of Inquiry provided a copy of the report to some media outlets under an embargo, an ACT Government spokeswoman said. This release was not authorised by or communicated to the government.

“The ACT Government is disappointed that the Sofronoff Board of Inquiry Report has been released to select media outlets,” the spokeswoman said. “The release of information about the Inquiry outside of the government procedures has affected the Inquiry process and harmed people involved. It further contributes to the ongoing public discussion of the matter that has been very difficult for all of the individuals impacted.

“The Government has commenced the Cabinet process to enable proper consideration of the Report’s findings and recommendations,” the spokeswoman said. “The individuals identified in the Report and affected by its findings must be afforded procedural fairness, including the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The ACT Attorney-General is in contact with the DPP in relation to the findings relating to him.”

Earlier today, both the Canberra Liberals and the Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA) called for the ACT Government to release the Sofronoff report immediately, rather than waiting three or four weeks to table it, as Mr Barr had originally intended.

Opposition leader Elizabeth Lee said that there was no justification for the Chief Minister to “hide the report from the public”.

Given extensive media coverage, Ms Lee continued, it was important to release the report “so that every member of the community, every stakeholder, every interested party, can have faith that this independent inquiry was done in the most robust way, and that everyone knows exactly what those findings are”.

Releasing the report immediately would remove the “risk of any unfounded aspersions being made or cast against any party or any stakeholder”, and “ensure confidence in the criminal justice system”.

Alex Caruana, president of the AFPA, also believes the report should be released in its entirety, given a leaked version was already in the public domain.

“There is no reason to delay the release any further,” he said. “[The ACT Government] can release the report today and consider the recommendations in due course…

“There is no point in hiding or sugarcoating the information and recommendations. In some cases, it’s clear what needs to occur.”

Neither the Canberra Liberals nor the AFPA have seen the report.

“The number of people who received the report was minimal; not even ACT Policing had seen the report,” Mr Caruana said.

It is understood that the report accuses DPP Shane Drumgold of misleading the Supreme Court in the Lehrmann trial; of blocking Mr Lehrmann’s access to police documents; of breaching ethical standards of legal practice in making allegations about Senator Linda Reynolds’s interference; of making improper remarks about the likelihood of Mr Lehrmann’s conviction; and of preying on the inexperience of junior staffers. The report allegedly describes Mr Drumgold’s allegations as “not just incorrect, but wholly false and without any rational basis”.

“If the findings of his conduct throughout this trial are as accurate as is being reported … the Attorney-General of the ACT [Shane Rattenbury] should sack him immediately,” Ms Lee said.

“We’re talking about questions of the Director of Public Prosecutions knowingly lying to the court, engaging in unethical behaviour, undue influence over a junior solicitor. Now, these allegations made against any lawyer would result in their immediate termination of employment, and in fact would result in them most likely being struck off the roll. There is no doubt that as the holder of a statutory position, there is an even greater duty on the Director of Public Prosecutions when it comes to his duties…”

Mr Drumgold, Ms Lee noted, was “on leave, being paid $2,000 a day” while Mr Rattenbury “sits on his hands”. She called on Mr Rattenbury “to step up and take some leadership”.

“It is extraordinary that the Attorney-General himself has had nothing to say about this very important inquiry and the proceedings over the last 12 hours,” Ms Lee said.

Conversely, the report allegedly finds that police – whom Mr Drumgold accused of impropriety – of acting in good faith and of putting together a sound case.

“If the public reports are accurate, it’s clear that ACT Policing members conducted a proper and professional investigation,” Mr Caruana said.

“Using the words in the public domain, the investigators performed their duties in absolute good faith, with great determination, although faced with obstacles, and put together a sound case.

“During the Inquiry, ACT Policing members demonstrated accountability, honesty, and transparency, which is reflected in the public reporting. The ACT Policing officers made admissions to their errors and owned them.

“Sexual assault investigations are among the hardest to conduct, even more so when you have a high level of national scrutiny. I commend all members involved in the investigation and those who appeared before the Inquiry.”

Mr Caruana said that the public reporting confirmed the AFPA’s suspicions about Mr Lehrmann’s trial.

“While we welcomed the Inquiry, we knew it would be the only way to reveal the truth,” he said.

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

“It’s disappointing that valuable ACT taxpayer money was spent due to allegations now found to be wholly false and made up.

“We thank Mr Sofronoff KC and the Inquiry Board for the way they conducted the Inquiry,” Mr Caruana said.