FILIPINA DOMESTIC HELPER HELD CAPTIVE, TREATED LIKE SLAVE BY AUSSIE COUPLE

A Filipina woman hired by a Sydney couple to clean and care for their family says she was forced to work like a slave in the pair’s grocery shop, restrictions having been placed on where she was allowed to go and with whom she could socialize.

And, when she managed to escape from their southern Sydney home, the husband and wife hired a private detective to track her down and bring her back against her will.

Husband and wife Joshua and Shiela McAleer, from Rockdale in Sydney’s south, have pleaded guilty to a series of charges relating to their treatment of the woman, including conducting a business involving the forced labor of another person between November 26, 2014, and October 30, 2016, and harboring an unlawful non-citizen. In a sentencing hearing on Thursday, the couples’ barrister James Glisson, QC, told the court his clients were of good character and had offered to compensate the victim $70,000.

“The impetus of these offenses... was for economic advantage for each of the offenders: it provided them with their lifestyle ... to the disadvantage of the victim. The disadvantage of the victim is being addressed by payment of compensation,” he said. Documents before the court reveal the couple paid for the woman’s tourist visa - which included a condition that she did not work for three months - a plane ticket and a passport. She arrived at their home in May 2013.

Laura Chung of The Sydney Morning Herald reported that, despite her visa conditions, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was initially hired as a cleaner and carer for the family.

When the woman’s visa expired, she was told by the couple she was unable to return to the Philippines until she repaid her travel costs. Court documents state that Mrs. McAleer told the woman words to the effect of: “You cannot go home until you pay me for your travel expenses. “If you go back before you pay me back I know people in the Philippines in the police and higher up and who I can hire to harm you or your family if you go home early.”

In her victim impact statement, the woman said she was told by the couple that her family in the Philippines would be paid 20,000 pesos ($530) a month while under their employment. The woman was also supposed to receive a living allowance, board, and food. “I did not know when I came that I would have to work 24 hours a day. I did not get paid for my work,” the woman said.

Crown prosecutor Jennifer Single, SC, said the woman had so little money that she “couldn’t get a taxi to get to the airport”. The woman continued to work as a cleaner and care for the family and, from November 2014, she also began working in the Filipino grocery store owned by the couple. During this time, she was regularly working six to seven days a week.

“Around this time, the [woman] began to complain to the co-offenders about her workload. Shiela McAleer said words in response to the effect of: ‘Why are you complaining? I am your boss, I am paying for you.’ ” The couple imposed strict restrictions on the woman, including limiting her movements outside the home and with whom she socialized. The woman escaped from the Rockdale home in October 2016.

Court documents note that on November 1, 2016, Mr. McAleer sought the assistance of a private investigator in finding the woman, who he said was his fiancee and that she had gone missing.

“I have friends who have told me they have seen her driving around with another mail [sic] in the Sutherland area over the weekend and I have had my suspicions as well for a while now,” Mr. McAleer wrote. “I would like you to locate his home address and try to see if [the woman] is with him.” Later, when the Australian Federal Police questioned Mr. McAleer about the email, he responded that the couple were concerned about the woman and wanted to “report it to immigration and have her ... deported." The federal police received a tip-off in July 2017 from Anti-Slavery Australia and the couple was issued court attendance notices in October 2019.

Last year, Mr. McAleer pleaded guilty to the charges. Mrs. McAleer also pleaded guilty to charges of engaging in conduct causing another person to enter into or remain in forced labor and harboring an unlawful non-citizen.

Judge Tanya Smith said the disadvantage suffered by the victim was not “just the payment of salaries”, rather the woman’s circumstances had resulted in “someone who finds themselves in a position where they have no choice but to engage in this conduct”.

The woman said in her victim impact statement that, before coming to Australia, she had been happy, had job security, and her family.

“I felt like a slave but I didn’t say anything,” the woman wrote. “I feel it would have been better not to come [to Australia].” Since the incident, she said she was anxious and didn’t trust people. But the woman concluded her statement by noting that “happiness is starting to come back” and “I am stronger now”.

The couple will return to court for sentencing on June 11.

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