The court's eventual ruling will set a precedent for the way the complex Commonwealth slavery laws are interpreted in Canberra courts.

Earlier this year a Kambah woman, Watcharaporn Nantahkhum, became the first person convicted of a slavery offence in the ACT.

A Supreme Court jury found the 45-year-old guilty of possessing a slave, attempting to pervert the course of justice and four offences under the federal Migration Act.

Those charges were allowing a non-citizen to work in breach of a visa condition, allowing a non-citizen to work after their visa expired, and the same charges with the aggravating feature of allowing the victim to work in conditions of exploitation.

Justice Richard Refshauge jailed Nantahkhum for eight years and 10 months, to serve at least four years and nine months. ''While there is no evidence of particular physical or mental injury suffered by the victims, they have clearly had their integrity as human beings damaged and the first victim, in particular, had her rights abused,'' the judge said.

Solicitor Beth Morrisroe, of Rachel Bird and Co, this week filed a notice of appeal on behalf of Nantahkhum. They have appealed against all six convictions, with the precise grounds of appeal yet to be finalised. They've also argued the judge's sentence was too severe. The convictions relate to two Thai women brought willingly to Australia in mid-2007 to work in the sex industry.

Nantahkhum, a licensed sole operator sex worker, employed the women out of premises in Braddon from their arrival to March 2008.

Nantahkhum had herself arrived in the country years earlier to work in the sex industry. The most serious offences - the slavery charge, the aggravated migration offences and attempting to pervert to the course of justice - relate to one particular victim.

After her arrival in Australia, the victim's passport was taken from her, and she was initially not given a key to the Braddon unit where she lived and worked.

Nantahkhum told the victim she had to pay off a $45,000 debt - later negotiated down to $43,000 - before she was entitled to her share of the takings.

A detailed ledger revealed that by the time the victim cleared the debt, she had serviced about 700 clients in a 4½-month period.

The two victims left Nantahkhum's employ and struck out on their own in 2008, but came to the attention of authorities and were placed in immigration detention. At the trial, defence lawyers argued one victim was a mercenary who believed Nantahkhum had dobbed her in to authorities and made the accusations to get revenge.

But in April the jury took about two hours to find Nantahkhum guilty on all counts. She will be eligible for parole in January 2017 at the earliest.