Iraq's consul-general in Sydney exploited a Filipino visa worker as her private nanny and then sacked her when she raised concerns in a case the Fair Work Commission has described as "disgraceful" and "morally repugnant".Fair Work Commissioner Donna McKenna found consul-general Anwar Alesi paid the domestic worker as little as $800 a month for six days work and housed her on a sofa bed in a room shared by her two sons.Ms Alesi would later fire her, lock her out of the house and seek to cancel her visa when she raised concerns about exploitation with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

The details were revealed in an unfair dismissal case that Ms Alesi unsuccessfully defended on diplomatic immunity grounds and later sought to keep secret because of concerns about the "very delicate" relationship between the Iraqi and the Australian governments.Commissioner McKenna said the case raised questions about why diplomatic personnel were allowed to recruit domestic workers from overseas.
"It seems to me to be a self-evident proposition that if diplomatic personnel want to have employees undertake domestic work in their private residences ... they could, also self-evidently, recruit locally or use local agencies which supply such domestic services - rather than recruiting economically and industrially vulnerable persons from countries such as the Philippines and other countries with wages and conditions far inferior to Australian minima," she said.
 'Disturbing'
The commission heard Ms Alesi recruited Juliet Buenaobra from the Philippines on a 403 visa specifically designed for domestic workers for diplomatic or consular officials.

Ms Alesi hired her on $2975 a month but paid just a fraction of that after deductions, including $800 for rent, $125 a month in medical insurance that was not given, and $250 a month for amenities that consisted of Sunsilk shampoo.

Ms Buenaobra alleged Ms Alesi then told her to lie to DFAT about how much she was paid.

However, when Ms Alesi went overseas, the nanny returned to DFAT to tell them the truth, breaking down in tears

 

The Fair Work Commission found that diplomatic immunity didn't apply in this case. Diplomatic immunity explain why and advise why or why not you agree/don't agree with this outcome. 

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Does diplomatic immunity apply in this case The Fair Work Commission in Australia ruled that diplomatic immunity does not apply in the case of Ms Ales... View the full answer