A former senior diplomat has been ordered to pay more than $500,000 to her then-Canberra-based "domestic servant" after paying the woman less than 65 cents an hour for years of work.
Former Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in Australia Himalee Subhashini de Silya Arunatilaka did not take part in Federal Court proceedings which found she grossly underpaid her employee.
"This decision by Justice [Elizabeth] Raper ... spells out clearly that these workers have rights in Australia," Clayton Utz pro bono partner David Hilliard, who led the team representing the worker, said in a media release.
"And that senior diplomats cannot hide behind diplomatic immunity when it comes to keeping their servants under slave-like arrangements."
A decision published on Thursday revealed the worker, Priyanka Danaratna, was only paid a total of $11,212 over more than two years.
As a result, Ms Arunatilaka has been ordered to pay $374,151 in unpaid wages plus $169,148 in interest.
Justice Raper also took a swipe at the Home Affairs Department in her remarks, noting, with sufficient scrutiny of the situation, "Ms Danaratna's employment may have been very different".
The judge said it should have been clear Ms Danaratna was not going to be paid or enjoy the protections domestic workers are afforded.
"It is perplexing that the department, in the circumstances, did nothing and granted the visa," she said.
The former diplomat is set to face a further hearing to determine additional penalties for her repeated breaches of the Fair Work Act.
"We know that this is not an isolated case - it is the second Federal Court judgment in less than a year involving domestic workers at diplomatic residences in Canberra," Mr Hilliard said.
"Domestic workers in foreign diplomatic residences are among the most vulnerable and isolated workers in Australia."
The latest significant decision comes after Justice Raper recently ordered former Indian High Commissioner Navdeep Suri Singh to pay his former employee nearly $300,000 in a similar case.
Ms Danaratna had no connections in Australia, did not speak English, and had her passport taken away when she arrived in Canberra to begin work in 2015.
According to the published decision, the woman worked 14 hour days, seven days a week, cooking, cleaning, washing, preparing for parties, gardening, and doing general housework.
"Ms Arunatilaka did not allow me to leave the house without permission," the worker said in an affidavit.
"She gave me permission from time to time to go for a short walk around the neighbourhood. I was not allowed to go to the shops or do other activities outside the house by myself."
Ms Danaratna said the two days she needed after badly burning her hand and being taken to hospital was the only extended time she had off work.
The worker's evidence was that she was never paid at regular intervals, but rather given small amounts of cash from time to time for certain needs.
Ms Arunatilaka is now living in Switzerland as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva.
