Brittany Higgins is expected to return to court for the trial of the man she accuses of raping her inside Parliament House.

Her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann is being tried by the ACT Supreme Court, charged with sexual intercourse without consent.

He has pleaded not guilty and denies having any sexual interaction with Ms Higgins.

Ms Higgins will face continued cross-examination by Lehrmann's defence lawyer Steven Whybrow.

She had been due to return to the witness box on Monday but was unavailable.

The trial continued this week with other witnesses but the court has prevented proceedings from being published until after Ms Higgins has completed her evidence.

Ms Higgins has previously told the court she and Lehrmann returned to Parliament House after a night out drinking with defence colleagues.

The former Liberal Party staffer said she fell asleep on the couch and woke up to Lehrmann having sex with her.

The trial was initially anticipated to run for between four and six weeks but could now be over in half that time.

Former coalition defence minister Linda Reynolds, Ms Higgins' boss at the time of the alleged assault, is due to give evidence in court on Tuesday.

Senator Michaelia Cash is also expected to be in the witness box early next week before the Crown closes its case.

Another former Liberal minister Steven Ciobo is no longer expected to give evidence, with the initial witness list of 52 now reduced to 32.

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Brittany Higgins has returned to the witness box to continue giving evidence at the trial of the man she accuses of raping her inside Parliament House.

Her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann is being tried by the ACT Supreme Court, charged with sexual intercourse without consent.

He has pleaded not guilty and denies having any sexual interaction with Ms Higgins.

She will face continued cross-examination by Lehrmann's defence lawyer Steven Whybrow.

She had been due to return to court on Monday but was unavailable.

The trial continued this week with other witnesses but the court has prevented proceedings from being published until after Ms Higgins has completed her evidence.

Ms Higgins has previously told the court she and Lehrmann returned to Parliament House after a night out drinking with defence colleagues.

The former Liberal Party staffer said she fell asleep on the couch and woke up to Lehrmann having sex with her.

The trial was initially anticipated to run for between four and six weeks but could now be over in half that time.

Former coalition defence minister Linda Reynolds, Ms Higgins' boss at the time of the alleged assault, is due to give evidence in court on Tuesday.

Senator Michaelia Cash is also expected to be in the witness box early next week before the Crown closes its case.

Another former Liberal minister Steven Ciobo is no longer expected to give evidence, with the initial witness list of 52 now reduced to 32.

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© AAP 2022

Queen have released a lost song featuring their late band member Freddie Mercury for the first time in more than eight years.

Face It Alone was originally recorded during the British rock band's 1988 sessions for their album The Miracle, but remained among those that did not make the final cut.

It was later rediscovered when the band's production and archive team returned to the sessions to work on the upcoming reissue of the album.

The single is the first new song released featuring Mercury since 2014's Queen Forever album which included three previously unheard tracks with the singer titled Let Me In Your Heart Again, Love Kills and There Must Be More to Life Than This.

The former Queen frontman died from Aids-related complications in 1991 at the age of 45.

The classic rock band - comprising of Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon - were founded in 1970 and created hit tracks together including Bohemian Rhapsody and We Will Rock You.

Speaking of the rediscovered track, May said: "I'm happy that our team were able to find this track.

"After all these years, it's great to hear all four of us, yes, Deacy is there too, working in the studio on a great song idea which never quite got completed... until now."

Taylor added: "We'd kind of forgotten about this track but there it was, this little gem.

"It's wonderful, a real discovery. It's a very passionate piece."

The song's arrival comes ahead of the November 18 reissue of the band's 13th album The Miracle, first released in 1989.

The album - which included tracks I Want It All, Breakthru and The Invisible Man - reached number one in the UK at the time.

It will now be available in an eight-disc collector's edition box set format.

Among its contents, the expanded set includes The Miracle Sessions, an hour-plus disc of further previously unreleased recordings including six unpublished songs.

It also includes the band's spoken exchanges on the studio floor in London and Montreux, giving a revealing window into the four members' creative process and their personal relationships.

Queen's The Miracle collector's edition will be available from November 18.

© PAA 2022

Liberal senators Linda Reynolds and Michaelia Cash will be called to give evidence at Bruce Lehrmann's rape trial.

Lehrmann is standing trial at the ACT Supreme Court accused of sexually assaulting former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins.

He has pleaded not guilty and denies any sexual interaction took place.

Ms Higgins is expected to return to the witness box on Friday and complete her evidence after being unavailable earlier in the week.

The trial has continued in her absence with the Crown calling other witnesses.

When Ms Higgins returns on Friday she will face continued cross-examination by Lehrmann's defence lawyer Steven Whybrow.

Senators Reynolds and Cash are expected to be in the witness box early next week before the Crown closes its case.

Former Liberal minister Steven Ciobo is no longer expected to give evidence.

The trial had originally been set with a four to six-week duration timeline.

But during the second week the court heard proceedings were further ahead of schedule than expected.

The prosecution initially listed 52 witnesses to be called during proceedings, but a revised list shows 20 are no longer required.

The court has prevented publication of any evidence from other witnesses until after Ms Higgins has completed her evidence.

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© AAP 2022