The judgment in the defamation case brought by Geoffrey Rush against the Daily Telegraph will cost the newspaper a lot of money but the question for many women is the signal it sends about how courts view claims about sexual harassment at work.

In his detailed judgment on Thursday Justice Michael Wigney of the Federal Court found the Daily Telegraph's articles in 2017 making allegations of inappropriate behaviour defamed the world-renowned actor. Justice Wigney has already awarded $850,000 in general and aggravated damages and Mr Rush will receive more compensation for financial damage. The final bill could set a new record in the millions of dollars for defamation judgments in Australia.

Eryn Jean Norvill speaks outside the Federal Court in Sydney. Credit:James Brickwood

Yet it is the reasoning by which Justice Wigney reached his decision which will cause most concern for many women and raise questions about whether the bench has understood the change in community standards in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

The starting point must be that women do not lightly invent claims of sexual harassment in workplaces where making a complaint against a powerful male boss can jeopardise their job and expose them to public ridicule. In fact, the opposite is much more likely. Women have historically kept quiet about inappropriate behaviour in the workplace because it was too hard to fight the system.