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Brittany Higgins is set to give evidence as the first witness in the trial of a former Liberal staffer accused of raping her.

Bruce Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent.

Ms Higgins alleges the incident occurred in March 2019 inside the Parliament House office of then defence minister Linda Reynolds after a night out with Lehrmann and their colleagues.

Lehrmann is being tried in the ACT Supreme Court, overseen by Chief Justice Lucy McCallum.

During a police interview recorded in February 2021 and played for the jury on Tuesday, Ms Higgins said she did not immediately report the alleged rape because of the culture of silence among political staffers.

Ms Higgins said she felt stressed, scared and embarrassed.

"I was shell shocked by what had happened," she told police.

"I didn't know who to tell, how to action it or what to do."

Ms Higgins described herself as being "really drunk" the night of the alleged incident.

She told police the pair had been at a bar and then nightclub with colleagues before she and Lehrmann got into a taxi.

While she initially thought she was on her way home, Lehrmann told her he needed to collect some work from Parliament House.

"It felt like it was safe space for me and I didn't say no to going to parliament," she told police.

"I didnt have all my devices about me ... but at the time it didn't seem unsafe ... it didnt feel dangerous."

Ms Higgins alleges after the two of them entered Senator Reynolds' office she fell asleep on a couch and woke up to Lehrmann having sex with her.

She will be questioned by prosecutor Shane Drumgold SC and Lehrmann's defence lawyer Steven Whybrow on Wednesday.

Mr Drumgold flagged more than 50 witnesses could be called to give evidence during the trial, which is expected to last between four and six weeks.

Among the witnesses are Liberal senators Linda Reynolds and Michaelia Cash, former Liberal MP Steven Ciobo as well as other political and parliamentary staff.

Mr Whybrow told the jury Ms Higgins' allegations had not been tested or proven and Lehrmann denied having sex with her.

"This is going to be a long case. Ms Higgins has said a lot of things about a lot of people," Mr Whybrow said on Tuesday.

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Brittany Higgins has described the moment she was allegedly raped by a colleague on a couch inside a former minister's parliamentary office.

She has also told a jury she thought she would not be believed because of the workplace disparity between herself and her accused rapist.

Ms Higgins is the first witness in the trial of the man accused of raping her inside a minister's office at Parliament House in March 2019.

Bruce Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent.

The pair worked as Liberal Party staffers - she in an admin role and Lehrmann as an adviser - in the office of former defence industry minister Linda Reynolds.

The pair had been out drinking with colleagues the previous Friday night and returned to Parliament House in the evening on the way home.

Lehrmann had told Ms Higgins he needed to pick up some documents from the office.

She alleges after the two of them entered Senator Reynolds' office she fell asleep on a couch and woke up to Lehrmann having sex with her.

Ms Higgins said she felt "trapped, not human" as Lehrmann hovered over her, grunting and making noise.

She said she started crying and told him to stop but he continued.

When she returned to work, Ms Higgins told police she feared she would be fired because she and Lehrmann had been in the office after hours which had been flagged as a security breach.

"I knew what had happened to me was wrong, I knew I hadn't consented," she said.

She told police when she identified the incident as a sexual assault to her former chief of staff, "the gears shifted".

"It became less about me and more political in a sense," she said.

In a police interview from February 2021 played for the jury on Wednesday, Ms Higgins detailed having to return to work the Monday following the alleged incident.

She told police she didn't think anyone would believe her story and figured Lehrmann's words carried more weight than hers because of his more senior role.

"He was in the office on Monday ... He didn't seem ashamed (or) upset," Ms Higgins said.

"It just didn't feel like something he wanted to address."

Lehrmann is being tried in the ACT Supreme Court, overseen by Chief Justice Lucy McCallum.

The jury has heard police interviews with Ms Higgins conducted two years after the event.

Ms Higgins described herself to police "as drunk as she'd ever been" in her life the night of the alleged incident.

She admitted to police her recollection of the night was patchy.

Prosecutor Shane Drumgold SC flagged more than 50 witnesses could be called to give evidence during the trial, which is expected to last between four and six weeks.

Among the witnesses are Liberal senators Linda Reynolds and Michaelia Cash, former Liberal MP Steven Ciobo as well as other political and parliamentary staff.

Defence lawyer Steven Whybrow told the jury Ms Higgins' allegations had not been tested or proven and Lehrmann denied having sex with her.

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The central bank has slowed the pace of rate hikes, lifting the official cash rate by 25 basis points despite expectations of another 50 basis point jump.

The 0.25 percentage point lift is the sixth rate hike in a row and brings the cash rate to 2.6 per cent.

The surprise move makes it the first major central bank to start scaling back rate hikes.

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe said the cash rate has increased substantially in a short period of time.

"Reflecting this, the Board decided to increase the cash rate by 25 basis points this month as it assesses the outlook for inflation and economic growth in Australia," he said on Tuesday.

The Australian Stock Exchange rose after the RBA's surprise decision, with the S&P/ASX200 index up 3.44 per cent within minutes.

The benchmark index closed up 242.4 points, or 3.75 per cent, in its best daily gain for more than two years.

The slower pace of monetary policy follows four consecutive 50 basis point rate hikes, and suggests the RBA is getting closer to its "neutral" setting.

This is a level where interest rates neither have a stimulatory nor contractionary effect on the economy.

Dr Lowe said the 25 basis point lift was necessary to bring inflation back down and there would be more rate hikes to come.

He said the size and timing of its rate decisions would be informed by incoming data.

"(The board) is closely monitoring the global economy, household spending and wage and price-setting behaviour."

Treasurer Jim Chalmers also expects top see more rate increases.

"Interest rate rises often have a lag effect, and so the effect of rising interest rates is often not immediate," Dr Chalmers told reporters in Canberra.

"Clearly the Reserve Bank board needs to take that into consideration as well."

He said the latest rate rise and darkening clouds over the global economy would set the backdrop for a "responsible" budget in October.

Commenting on the fallout from the "mini-budget" introduced in the UK, Dr Chalmers said it served as a warning.

"What's happening in the UK is a cautionary tale of getting that fiscal and monetary balance out of whack," he said.

While smaller than expected, the October rate hikes will still hurt mortgage holders.

NAB, Westpac and Suncorp have already passed on the full 0.25 percentage point RBA hike to their variable mortgage rates.

Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said the latest rate rise was lower than expected but still harmful to Australian households.

"With an upcoming budget, we want to see a budget that does not add fuel to the fire of the pressures that Australians are feeling, and that is not creating price wage spirals that make products unaffordable for Australians," Mr Taylor told reporters.

A 50 basis point lift was broadly expected, although some economists were hoping to see a smaller rate rise in fear of heavy-handed tightening causing a recession.

AMP Capital's Shane Oliver said aggressive hiking of rates risked throwing the economy into an avoidable recession.

ANZ economist David Plank said the slower pace of tightening may extend the tightening cycle for longer.

The bank's economists are of the view that the bank will need to get the cash rate above 3 per cent to bring inflation back within target.

"We still expect the RBA to tighten by 25bp in November, taking the cash rate target to 2.85 per cent," Mr Plank said.

"But there is a bigger question mark over whether the RBA will go again in December as we previously expected."

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