Breaking: Melbourne man jailed for four years for keeping woman as slave

Chee Kit Chong was found guilty of intentionally possessing a slave and assault. (ABC News)

A man who beat a woman he kept as a slave in Melbourne's west will spend at least four years behind bars.

Chee Kit Chong, a 47-year-old Malaysian national, bashed and starved the Indonesian woman aged in her 60s between February and October 2022, while she lived with Chong and his family in their Point Cook home.

He was found guilty earlier this year of intentionally keeping a slave and assault, while his wife Angie Liaw was acquitted.

Judge Michael Cahill sentenced Chong to a total of six years' imprisonment for forcing the woman into domestic servitude and assaulting her on at least one occasion, describing the abuse Chong inflicted on her as "callous and cruel".

"You treated her as a slave," Judge Cahill told the court this morning.

"That is, you used her like property you owned."

Slavery, a federal crime in Australia, carries a maximum term of 25 years behind bars.

Appearing at the County Court hearing via video link from Ravenhall Correctional Centre, Chong remained emotionless and looked directly ahead as Judge Cahill told the court Chong denied the woman proper medical care and food, controlled her movements and deprived her of sleep.

Angie Yeh Liaw (left) was acquitted and Chee Kit (Max) Chong (right) was found guilty earlier this year of intentionally possessing a slave. (AAP: Jay Kogler)

Judge Cahill told the court that Chong admonished the woman over text message if she did not perform her work to his standards, and "hit her for the smallest mistake".

Throughout the time the woman was kept in Chong's Point Cook home, the court heard he smashed her head through a wall, kicked her in the face.

Chong was also initially charged with hitting her with a vacuum cleaner shaft, but that charge was ultimately dropped.