Background
of case
When Ms
Himalee Arunatilaka was appointed Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in
Australia in 2015, she brought our client, Ms Priyanka Danaratna, with her to
live and work at her home in Canberra. Ms Arunatilaka took our client's
passport away when she arrived in Australian. It was never returned.
Our
client worked from 6am until late into the evening - cooking, cleaning and
washing for Ms Arunatilaka and her husband - seven days a week, for three
years. She had only two days off in all that time, after she had burned her
hand cooking.
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 knew no-one in Canberra, spoke and read no 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, who instructed Prue
Bindon of Key Chambers as our pro bono counsel.
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.
Rather
than challenge the decision or defend her actions, Ms Arunatilaka has chosen to
ignore the Court. She now serves as the Ambassador and Permanent
Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva.
Clayton
Utz Pro Bono Partner David Hillard,
who led the team for Ms Danaratna, says:
“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. Domestic workers in foreign diplomatic residences are among the most vulnerable and isolated workers in Australia. It is hard to conceive of someone in 21st century Australia literally being trapped in a job for three years and earning 65 cents an hour. This decision by Justice Raper, along with the upcoming penalties hearing against Ms Himalee Arunatilaka, spells out clearly that these workers have rights in Australia, and that senior diplomats cannot hide behind diplomatic immunity when it comes to keeping their servants under slave-like arrangements."