Case highlights issue of modern slavery, according to worker's representative
A Sri Lankan diplomat has been ordered by the Federal Court of Australia to pay over $500,000 in damages to a former domestic worker in a case of wage exploitation.
The ruling comes after Priyanka Danaratna, who worked as a domestic employee in the home of the then-deputy high commissioner of Sri Lanka, Himalee Subhashini de Silya Arunatilaka, alleged that she was subjected to severe underpayment and poor working conditions.
Danaratna, who moved to Australia in 2015, worked for Arunatilaka for three years, during which she was paid a total of only $11,212, ABC News reported.
According to David Hillard, a pro bono partner at law firm Clayton Utz, this amounts to about 65 cents an hour.
"She worked seven days a week for three years, and she had two days off in that entire time," Hillard told ABC News.
A case of modern slavery
Hillard, who represented Danaratna in the civil case, emphasised that her treatment was indicative of a broader issue of modern slavery.
"Vulnerable employees find themselves trapped in a situation where their lives are nothing but work, in a job they cannot escape," he said.
Danaratna was only able to escape with the help of the Salvation Army after contacting her family in Sri Lanka, who advised her to seek assistance.
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Claudia Cummins, the modern slavery lead for the Salvation Army, told ABC News that cases like Danaratna's are not uncommon.
"We've often seen quite a high number of people experiencing what's known as domestic servitude — so, being treated like a slave, often in a home environment, in a private home." she told the news outlet.
"And of those people, we've certainly seen probably at least a dozen people who've been exploited by a diplomat."
Federal Court's decision
In its decision, the Federal Court ruled that Arunatilaka had breached the Fair Work Act by underpaying her employee by approximately $374,000.
The court further ordered Arunatilaka to pay over $169,000 in interest, bringing the total amount owed to Danaratna to more than $543,000.
ABC News reports that Arunatilaka is currently the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The news outlet said it reached out to Arunatilaka for comment, but she did not respond before the time of publication. It also contacted the United Nations Office in Geneva for comments.