News · Commentary
Slavery and servitude offences in Australia.
A sentence reported this week, a Melbourne man jailed for four years for keeping a woman in conditions of slavery, has put modern-slavery law back in the headlines. Most people think of slavery as a thing of the past. Australian law treats it as a live criminal offence, with a set of related offences that reach into ordinary workplaces and private homes. This note sets out the slavery, servitude, forced labour, deceptive recruiting and debt bondage offences in the Criminal Code (Cth), the penalties, and what the prosecution has to prove.
By Aaron Kernaghan · Published 5 September 2026
Modern slavery is not a single offence. It is a group of offences in Division 270 of the Criminal Code (Cth), built around one idea: one person controlling another through coercion, threat or deception, for work or for exploitation. The most serious is slavery itself. Below it sit servitude, forced labour, deceptive recruiting and forced marriage. Debt bondage sits close by in Division 271. Together they carry maximum penalties from four years up to 25 years.
A word before the law. The Melbourne sentence in the news this week is a finished court proceeding, and nothing in this note is a comment on that case or on any person. It is a plain-English account of the legal framework, written so that a person facing a charge of this kind, or worried they may be, can understand what the offences mean and what the prosecution has to prove.
What is the difference between slavery, servitude and forced labour?
These three offences form a ladder. They share a theme but they are not the same, and the difference decides both the charge and the penalty.
Slavery is the most serious. Section 270.3 of the Criminal Code (Cth) makes it an offence to reduce a person to slavery, or to hold, use or trade a person in slavery. Slavery is defined in section 270.1 as the condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised. In plain terms, the offender treats the person as property, as a thing to be used, controlled or disposed of. A condition of that kind can arise from a debt or a contract as much as from force.
Servitude is a step down. Under section 270.5, a person is in servitude where they provide labour or services and, because of coercion, threat or deception, a reasonable person in their position would not consider themselves free to stop the work or to leave the place where they do it. Servitude also requires that the person is significantly deprived of personal freedom in parts of their life beyond the work. So servitude captures the wider loss of liberty: the person cannot really leave, cannot come and go, cannot run their own life.
Forced labour is narrower again. Under section 270.6A, the same coercion, threat or deception test applies, but only to the work itself. The person is not free to stop the labour or services, but they do not suffer the broader deprivation of freedom that marks servitude. Forced labour is the offence for the case where a worker is trapped in the job but still has some life outside it.
What counts as modern slavery under the Criminal Code?
Division 270 groups slavery with the slavery-like offences. Alongside servitude and forced labour, it includes deceptive recruiting for labour or services under section 270.7 and forced marriage under section 270.7B. Debt bondage is a separate offence in Division 271. Each targets a different way of trapping a person.
The reach of these offences surprises people. They are not confined to factories, farms or brothels. The conditions of slavery, servitude and forced labour can arise in a private house, in a family, or in an intimate relationship. A person kept to cook, clean and care for a household under threat, unable to leave, can be a victim of servitude or slavery just as much as a worker on a building site. That is why cases in this area often look, on the surface, like domestic matters, and why they are prosecuted as serious federal crimes.
The means run through all of them. Coercion, threat and deception are defined in section 270.1A. Coercion is wide. It includes force, duress, detention, psychological oppression, abuse of power, and taking advantage of a person's vulnerability. A threat can be a threat of force, or a threat to report a person to immigration, or any threat that makes the person comply. Deception covers a false account of the job, the pay, the conditions, or what will happen if the person tries to leave.
What is the penalty for slavery in Australia?
The penalties track the seriousness of the offence. Slavery under section 270.3 carries a maximum of 25 years' imprisonment. Servitude under section 270.5 carries 15 years, rising to 20 years for an aggravated offence. Forced labour under section 270.6A carries 9 years, rising to 12 years aggravated. Deceptive recruiting under section 270.7 carries 7 years, rising to 9 years aggravated. Debt bondage under section 271.8 carries 4 years, rising to 7 years aggravated.
An offence is aggravated under section 270.8 where the victim is under 18, where the offender treats the victim with cruelty or inhuman or degrading treatment, or where the conduct gives rise to a danger of death or serious harm. Those features lift the maximum for each of the slavery-like offences.
These are Commonwealth offences, so they are sentenced under section 16A of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth). There is no standard non-parole period; the scheme in the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) does not apply to federal offences. The court fixes a head sentence and a recognizance release order or non-parole period by reference to the factors in section 16A and the comparable cases. A court sentencing for slavery will also weigh the objective seriousness of the conduct, the vulnerability of the victim, and the degree of control the offender held.
What is deceptive recruiting and debt bondage?
Deceptive recruiting under section 270.7 catches the lie that gets a person into the situation in the first place. It is an offence to engage another person to provide labour or services while deceiving them about the fact that the work will involve exploitation, or about the conditions, the pay, or whether the person will be free to leave. The offence bites at the front door, before the exploitation has run its course.
Debt bondage, in section 271.8, is a distinct trap. It is where a person pledges their labour or services, or the labour or services of someone under their control, as security for a debt, and the value of that work is not applied to reduce the debt, or the length and nature of the work are not limited or defined. It is the offence for the case where a worker is told they must work off a debt that never seems to shrink. The maximum is 4 years, or 7 years for an aggravated offence.
Is consent a defence to a slavery charge?
This is the point defendants most often misread. The fact that a person appeared to agree, stayed in the house, or kept turning up for work does not, by itself, answer the charge. If the prosecution proves the conditions of slavery, servitude or forced labour, the apparent agreement is worth little. A person who complies because of coercion, threat or deception has not made a free choice.
The High Court settled the point in The Queen v Tang (2008) 237 CLR 1. The Court held that a victim's apparent agreement did not remove criminal responsibility where the offender exercised the powers attaching to ownership. Consent still matters as a fact, because a genuine and informed choice may mean there was no coercion or deception at all. But it is not a switch that turns the offence off once the conditions are proved. For the offences that turn on the reasonable-person test, the question is whether a reasonable person in the victim's position would have felt free to leave, not whether the victim said yes.
Can you be charged in Australia for slavery that happened overseas?
The slavery offence has universal jurisdiction. It applies whether or not the conduct took place in Australia, and whether or not the offender or the victim is an Australian citizen or resident. That reflects the standing of slavery as a crime the whole world condemns.
The slavery-like offences have extended geographical reach under section 270.9. Conduct that occurs partly in Australia, or conduct by an Australian citizen, resident or body corporate abroad, can be prosecuted here. So a person cannot avoid these offences by arranging the exploitation across a border. The connection to Australia is enough to found a prosecution.
What the prosecution has to prove.
A modern-slavery case is a documentary and witness case. The Crown will usually rely on financial records, wage and hour records where they exist, phone and message data, immigration and visa records, and the account of the alleged victim and other witnesses. For slavery, the prosecution has to prove the exercise of powers of ownership. For servitude and forced labour, it has to prove the coercion, threat or deception, and that a reasonable person in the victim's position would not have felt free to leave. Every element must be proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The defence work is in the detail. Was this an employment or family arrangement, however imperfect, or was it control? Was the worker paid, free to come and go, able to leave the job? Did the alleged threat exist, or is it a later reconstruction of a soured relationship? Was the accused the person in control, or a bystander to arrangements made by others? These are questions of fact, and they are won or lost on the same records the prosecution relies on. Early advice on the brief matters, because the account a person gives in a first interview can be very hard to unwind later. Our note on the police interview and your right to silence explains why.
What should you do if the AFP contacts you?
Get legal advice before you say anything. A modern-slavery allegation is serious, the maximum penalties run to decades, and the case will be built on records that may already be in the hands of the Australian Federal Police. You are not required to take part in a record of interview. Ask for a lawyer and stay silent until you have one. If you have been charged, the court and the next date will be on your bail papers or court attendance notice.
If you are the person at risk rather than the person accused, help exists that does not depend on making a police report. The Support for Trafficked People Program, delivered by the Australian Red Cross, offers confidential support and advice for people affected by slavery and slavery-like conduct.
Frequently asked.
What is the difference between slavery, servitude and forced labour?
Slavery under section 270.3 of the Criminal Code (Cth) means exercising rights of ownership over a person, treating them as property. Servitude under section 270.5 is where a person provides labour or services and, because of coercion, threat or deception, a reasonable person would not feel free to stop or leave, and the person is significantly deprived of personal freedom. Forced labour under section 270.6A is the same coercion test but limited to the work itself, without the wider loss of freedom that marks servitude.
What is the penalty for slavery in Australia?
Slavery under section 270.3 of the Criminal Code (Cth) carries a maximum of 25 years' imprisonment. Servitude carries 15 years, or 20 years for an aggravated offence. Forced labour carries 9 years, or 12 years aggravated. Deceptive recruiting carries 7 years, or 9 years aggravated. These are Commonwealth offences sentenced under section 16A of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), with no standard non-parole period.
What counts as modern slavery under the Criminal Code?
Division 270 of the Criminal Code (Cth) covers slavery and slavery-like practices: servitude, forced labour, deceptive recruiting for labour or services, and forced marriage. Debt bondage sits in Division 271. The offences apply to any industry and to domestic or intimate settings, not only formal workplaces.
Is consent a defence to a slavery charge?
No. The fact that a person appeared to agree does not answer the charge where the prosecution proves the conditions of slavery, servitude or forced labour. The High Court in The Queen v Tang (2008) 237 CLR 1 held that a victim's apparent agreement does not remove criminal responsibility where the offender exercises powers of ownership.
Can you be charged in Australia for slavery that happened overseas?
Yes. The slavery offence has universal jurisdiction and applies whether or not the conduct occurred in Australia and whether or not the offender or victim is Australian. The slavery-like offences have extended geographical reach under section 270.9, covering conduct partly in Australia or by an Australian citizen or resident abroad.
What should you do if the AFP contacts you about a slavery allegation?
Do not take part in a record of interview before you have spoken to a lawyer. Modern-slavery briefs are built on financial records, phone data, immigration records and witness accounts. Get advice on your right to silence and on the brief before you answer questions. Call a criminal defence lawyer first.
To speak to a criminal defence lawyer, call Aaron Kernaghan on 0421 717 019.
This article is written by Aaron Kernaghan, criminal defence lawyer at Brady & Associates Lawyers, as at 5 September 2026. It is commentary and reflects the personal opinion of the author only. It is not legal advice, it is not a substitute for advice on your own matter, and it does not purport to be accurate or complete. Any matter referred to may be before the court and any person charged is presumed innocent. For advice on a specific matter, contact Aaron Kernaghan on 0421 717 019 or contact the firm.
More criminal-law commentary by Aaron Kernaghan.