Teacher Stephen Gailunas unsuitable to work in Victoria due to criminal past, but working in Qld

A teacher who was deemed “unsuitable” to work in Victoria due to his criminal past has been working at a Queensland school, it can be revealed.

Banned Victorian teacher Stephen Gailunas is now working at a Gold Coast school. Picture: Supplied

A teacher who was deemed “unsuitable” to work in Victorian schools due to criminal charges is currently employed at a Gold Coast high school.

Stephen Gailunas, a baseball academy teacher at Robina State High School, was last month knocked back from returning to work in his home state by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The tribunal had upheld an earlier decision of the Victorian Institute of Teaching to refuse Mr Gailunas’ application for teacher registration.

Mr Gailunas has a provisional registration in Queensland but wished to return to Victoria to teach so he could spend more time with his young son.

In 2015 he was found guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court of one charge of obtaining property by deception. He was found to have received $55 for teaching 171 people who didn’t exist to drive in around 2011.

He was paid more than $9000 under the “Keys to Drive” Australian Automobile Association scheme as a result of creating false identities for the learners.

The VIT ruled that they had no concerns about children’s safety with Mr Gailunas, or about his abilities as a teacher, but believed his criminal past meant he was unsuitable to work in a school. The finding was upheld by the VCAT.

Mr Gailunas has always maintained his innocence and says he didn’t have the paperwork to prove he didn’t make up false learner driver identities.

The Queensland College of Teachers confirmed Mr Gailunas had been granted provisional registration in November last year.
In a statement, the college said Queensland and Victoria have legislative regimes for assessing an applicant’s suitability to be a teacher.

“When a person applies for registration with the college, all criminal history matters are assessed,” it read.

“Certain offences automatically exclude a person from being registered. The offence named in this matter does not fall within that category.”

The Queensland department of education said it was an employing authority and only considers teachers for employment in state schools if they have current registration and a Blue Card.

The spokeswoman said it liaises with the QCT on an ongoing basis to determine whether a person is suitable to teach.

“The department has appropriate processes in place to ensure all employees and prospective employees have undergone criminal history checking and hold correct registrations and clearances to work in our state school system,” the spokeswoman said.

“Employees have ongoing obligations and the department monitors compliance with these requirements.”

Mr Gailunas told News Corp he may reapply to work as a teacher in Victoria in order to clear his name.

“I have so much to give and feel so optimistic about the future,” he said.

Despite the conviction, Mr Gailunas was found to be an “outstanding” student teacher who was diligent and professional and given “uniformly glowing” reports.

Mr Gailunas said he was disappointed by the findings and was “steadfast in that the offending did not occur”.

“There is a lack of ICT evidence and a very flimsy case,” he said.