Robert Geoffrey Davies banned from driving taxis over historic indecent assault conviction
A taxi driver who indecently assaulted a child in 1988 – but was allowed to keep working for 23 years – has lost his bid to overturn a ban.
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A taxi driver has lost an appeal to keep working after his driver accreditation was revoked – 31 years after a conviction for indecent assault against a nine-year-old child.
Robert Geoffrey Davies, 62, moved to South Australia from Victoria in 1996 and gained accreditation to drive taxis, which he did until 2019.
He was convicted of 17 charges of indecent assault against the child in Sunshine Magistrates Court of Victoria in January 1988.
Taxi drivers are required to have a clear Working with Children check.
The District Court heard Davies disclosed his criminal history when he first applied for the licence, but it was still granted and renewed multiple times, most recently in 2018.
But, on November 4, the Department of Human Services notified him that he could no longer work with children because of his conviction – 23 years after he started driving.
His Working with Children check was deemed invalid the next day and his accreditation revoked.
In his appeal, Davies said the cancellation of his licence was “totally unjustified” given he passed a Working with Children check in 2018.
He told the court that he was in the process of applying for his conviction to be overturned, because, he said, he did not indecently assault the child – but no evidence was provided.
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The Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure submitted to the court that he was banned from working with children under rules introduced as part of the Prohibited Persons Act in July 2019, so there was no option but to ban him from driving.
Discretion by any regulatory or accrediting body was removed as part of the legislation.
In her judgment on Monday, Judge Jo-Anne Deuter said the department’s actions were “valid and proper”.
“In all the circumstances, I find that (Davies’) appeal is not made out and that there are no cogent reasons to depart from the decision of the (department),” Judge Deuter said.