Carer Kept as Slave

A Sydney couple have pleaded guilty to charges of forced labour and harbouring a person. In court it was revealed the couple paid for a passport, plane ticket and visa for a woman from the Philippines on the condition that she did not work for the first three months of her stay in Australia. Once in Australia the woman was forced to work as a cleaner and carer for the family. When her visa expired she could not return home until she paid back her original travel expenses. Her movements were restricted, her passport was held by the couple and she was told her family in the Philippines would be harmed if she went home early. The couple will be sentenced under forced labour legislation in June 2021. Read more…

Subsection 270.6(1) of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Slavery, Slavery-like Conditions and People Trafficking) Act 2013 defines forced labour as the condition of a person (the victim) who provides labour or services if, because of the use of coercion, threat or deception, a reasonable person in the position of the victim would not consider himself or herself to be free:

(a) to cease providing the labour or services; or
(b)  to leave the place or area where the victim provides the labour or services.

The penalty is a maximum of nine years imprisonment or twelve years for an aggravated offence,