It's not possible to outright dismiss Kathy Sherriff's claim, but it strikes me as less credible for a few reasons. Often when Sherriff appears looking for publicity, she's joined at the hip with Peter Faris who was also the go too lawyer for attacks on Gillard during the Slater And Gordon beat up. That strikes me as a political underpinning to the claim of rape. I've not come across evidence around Shorten that he exhibited views or behaviour that was overtly sexist or degrading towards women, where there's plenty of surrounding material that Porter held some objectionable attitudes into his late 20's shown on the Four Corners Report. Nobody who was present at the event Shorten is alleged to have assaulted Sherriff has come forward publicly and said they believe the assault took place. There are people who were present at the Debating Championships who have said publicly they believe the accusation. An accusation in and of its own can never mean a conviction. Where the facts are buried as deep into the past as it is in these two instances, the surrounding material has weight in a political context. There looks to be more material surrounding the accusation against Porter that makes it credible.
