Sri Lankan diplomat fined for creating 'egregious and exploitative' working conditions at Canberra residence

A diplomat has been ordered to pay more than $100,000 in penalties after a court found she knowingly underpaid and overworked an employee.

Priyanka Danaratna arrived in Australia in September 2015 to work for the then-Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in Australia, Himalee Arunatilaka.

Federal Court proceedings would reveal Ms Arunatilaka would take Ms Danaratna’s passport and have her work from 6 am to 10 pm, seven days a week, as a domestic worker at her Deakin residence.

In a Federal Court decision handed down on Thursday (12 December), Justice Elizabeth Raper ordered Ms Arunatilaka to pay a pecuniary penalty of $117,028.90 within 60 days.

“Ms Danaratna was deprived of any semblance of [a] work and life divide,” she said.

“Her conditions bore no resemblance to what one would expect under Australian law and were egregious and exploitative.”

The penalty follows an August decision whereby Ms Arunatilaka was ordered to pay $374,151.90 in compensation.

In her decision, Justice Raper said Ms Arunatilaka had made 10 contraventions of relevant law.

These included underpaying Ms Danaratna, not providing payslips, not paying annual leave on termination and not giving her breaks.

Ms Arunatilaka had also not paid annual leave loading and overtime.

During her employment, Ms Danaratna would carry out household tasks – such as cooking, cleaning and washing clothes – and prepare for parties of up to 40 guests.

Her work hours would continue until 10 pm, though the court heard parties would see Ms Danaratna continue until after midnight.

The only time she took time off was when she didn’t work for two days after burning her hand on hot oil.

She was paid $11,212.70 for this work over a two-year-and-five-month period, which Justice Raper found would amount to being paid less than 90 cents an hour.

Ms Arunatilaka would make irregular payments into a Sri Lankan bank account, or give “small amounts of cash” to Ms Danaratna, who did not know how her pay was being calculated.

“The Dickensian nature of her conditions arose not only from how little she was paid, but by how much she was required to work – namely, in excess of what the award sought to prevent, namely, in excess of six days a week and in excess of 10 ordinary hours a day and without a break,” Justice Raper said.

Also, while employed as a domestic worker, Ms Danaratna was unable to leave the house without permission and had limited interactions with other people while in Canberra.

Justice Raper said this, as well as the confiscation of her passport and her lack of knowledge of English, meant Ms Danaratna was “deliberately isolated from the community and effectively entrapped within the household”.

Justice Raper said there was a need to deter diplomats from similar offending.

“A strong, clear message needs to be sent to those involved in the diplomatic corps as to the consequences for engaging in like conduct and to deter contravening conduct of this kind,” she said.

The case was “not dissimilar” to that of former High Commissioner for India Navdeep Suri Singh, who was found to have breached fair work laws in 2023. He was given a pecuniary penalty of $97,200.

Ms Arunatilaka did not engage with court proceedings and had shown no remorse, Justice Raper said.