The Federal Court found that a former Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner owed her former domestic worker half a million dollars in unpaid wages.
A press release from the Clayton Utz pro bono team noted that when Ms Himalee Arunatilaka was appointed Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in Australia in 2015, she brought out Ms Priyanka Danaratna to live and work at her home in Canberra. Ms Arunatilaka took the Ms Danaratna’s passport away when she arrived in Australian and never returned it.
For three years, Ms Danaratna worked from 6am until late into the evening, cooking, cleaning and washing for Ms Arunatilaka and her husband, seven days a week. During that time, she had only two days off after burning her hand while cooking.
According to the press release, Ms Danaratna was paid only $11,212 in total, or less than 65 cents an hour, sent directly to bank accounts in Sri Lanka. Ms Arunatilaka forbade her from leaving the residence alone without permission, and then only for short walks. Ms Danaratna had no contacts in Canberra, did not speak English, and without her passport had no way of leaving her work or returning home.
Legal response
Ms Danaratna was represented by the Clayton Utz pro bono team. On 15 August 2024, Justice Raper of the Federal Court of Australia found in Danaratna v Arunatilaka [2024] FCA 918 that Ms Arunatilaka had committed “significant breaches” of Australian employment law. Ms Arunatilaka was ordered to pay $374,151.90 in unpaid wages, plus a further $169,148.83 owing in interest on that amount, coming to a total of $543,300.73.
This is an internationally significant case, which follows the 2023 decision in Shergill v Singh [2023] FCA 1346 that after an official has left their diplomatic post, there is no diplomatic immunity available to protect that diplomat against Australian employment law claims by their domestic workers.
Ms Arunatilaka has chosen to ignore the Court and she now serves as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva.
The Mercy Foundation funded research into domestic servitude in 2019. The research Service or Servitude: A study of trafficking for domestic work by Heather Moore, found that domestic workers in embassies in Canberra are at great risk of modern slavery. Read more about the research here.
