Veronica was asking the union for help and protection. She was quickly followed by five of her colleagues, all with suitcases in tow.

The six women from the Philippines had been employees at Canberra Foot and Thai massage parlour in Belconnen, where they had worked under harsh conditions for more than four years, on the promise that they would one day be sponsored for permanent residency in Australia.

Veronica, along with Charise, Geraline, Charlen, Juvylyn and Judith, detailed their experience to The Canberra Times from a safe-house in Canberra, where they are waiting while now on bridging visas.

The stories told by the women are shocking. On arrival in Australia they were made to stay in the house of business owner's mother. Six of them slept on mattresses in a lounge room, not allowed to make noise or get up to go to the toilet during the night. They had no fan in the hot Canberra summer.

They had a curfew, including for days off, and worked long hours.

While their bank accounts showed them being paid correctly, they were often forced to pay back significant parts of their wages. There was no annual leave or sick leave, no public holidays.

They were told if they took too much sick leave, their employer wouldn't sponsor them for permanent residency.

Banned from eating sweets, coffee, soft drinks or white rice, the women were also banned from having boyfriends in Australia, or making contact with other Filipinos in the capital.

The consequences for breaking any of the rules was that they would be sent home to the Philippines. The rules were made and enforced by the owner of the business Colin Elvin, who the women describe as aggressive, manipulative and scary.

"We were afraid to get sent home because it's a great opportunity to be here. Life there [in the Philippines] is a bit difficult. We already gave up our jobs there and it's hard to get jobs again," Geraline said.

"We don't know the rules here, even to ride a bus, all the time we're relying on them - how to go to the places, they didn't discuss about anything," she said.

"We don't have friends and family here, that's why we're afraid to do something to contradict Colin because we might be sent back home."

"He always say if you are against my rules we will send you back home, we follow that because we're scared," said Charlen.

The workers reached a tipping point, finally deciding to leave, when they were told by their employers their applications for permanent residency had been rejected.

At first, Mr Elvin told them it was due to issues with their applications, caused by one of the workers.

Now they know it's because Mr Elvin was found unsuitable to sponsor permanent residency visas.

These women are speaking out because they don't want what has happened to them to happen to anyone else. It's the most they can hope for, as cases like theirs fall through the cracks in the justice system.

Two cases have been taken against Mr Elvin in the justice system. Two employees won an unfair dismissal case last year after Delo Be Isugan ran away because she believed she would be put on a plane to the Philippines the next day.

The Fair Work Ombudsman is also prosecuting an underpayment case through the Federal Court, set to be decided next year. The claims made by the six workers who spoke to The Canberra Times have been made in court by other workers.

In evidence given to the Fair Work Commission, Mr Elvin said he had terminated employee's contracts before, sending them back to their home countries, but denied he banned relationships between staff or forced them to work in harsh conditions. He confirmed staff worked 12 hour days, six days a week, but said they were not giving massages for the entirety of their shifts.

But the six women have no recourse against their former boss, because the business has gone into liquidation, and no new cases will be started.

Juvylyn, who was interviewed by ACT Policing, said she was disappointed in the questions she was asked, and that no other staff were interviewed after her.

In a statement ACT Policing confirmed they had looked into the allegations against Mr Elvin.

"ACT Policing received a complaint related to allegations of human trafficking earlier this year. Following police enquiries, it was deemed that no offences could be identified and the matter has now been finalised," a spokesman said.

ACT Policing said it works with the Australian Federal Police to combat human-trafficking.

It's not enough, the workers say, explaining they felt their experiences were dismissed by officers.

Detecting issues of modern slavery is difficult. An Australian Institute of Criminology report released in February estimated the number of human trafficking and slavery victims in Australia in 2015-16 and 2016-17 was between 1,300 and 1,900 - but that only one in five victims is detected.

Researcher at Anti Slavery Australia Carolyn Liaw says few Australians even realise that modern slavery exists, and those that do mainly associate it with sweatshops overseas.

While not commenting on this case specifically, Ms Liaw said modern slavery does happen in Australia, and can be in local small businesses like cafes or restaurants, agriculture businesses and domestic workers.

"We're currently working with over 130 clients who have experienced modern slavery and have been doing so since 2003," Ms Liaw said.

"This is only the tip of the iceberg, given the nature of the crimes it's quite difficult to detect."

Ms Liaw said most of the people her organisation helps are migrant workers, often with a precarious visa status and completely dependent on their employer for their understanding of their rights and the Australian legal system.

Getting convictions for offences like servitude and forced labour is not easy.

"There aren't that many, around 21 or 22 since 2008."

The federal government's Modern Slavery Act came into effect this year, but it only requires businesses with more than $100 million in turnover a year to report annually on risks in their supply chain and actions taken to mitigate them.

Ms Liaw hopes that other recommendations from the Senate committee report that preceded the Act will also be acted on, like an Anti-Slavery Commissioner.

The member of the Fair Work Commission who heard the unfair dismissal case of Delo Be Isugan and Bart Durado referred Mr Elvin to ACT Policing after he was found to be texting a witness about evidence during the hearing.

"A referral was received from the Fair Work Ombudsman regarding allegations of the provision of false or misleading evidence," the ACT Policing spokesman said.

"This matter is being considered by the AFP."

Colin Elvin was contacted and asked about the allegations made against him but did not respond.