The former director of the Australian War Memorial, Brendan Kelson, and the deputy director, Micahel McKernan, have been refused legal aid in their challenge over a report by the Merit Protection Review Agency.
The MPRA did a four-month inquiry at the memorial last year and presented it to Public Service Minister Gary Johns just before Christmas.
Mr Kelson and Dr McKernan say they were not given an opportunity to repond to adverse findings in the report about workplace harassment and have launched a Federal Court action to have the report set aside. The case begins next week and they will press on without aid.