Convicted fraudster Stephen Gailunas ‘astounded’ after teaching registration rejected

A swindler slapped with 171 fraud offences after scamming a government scheme claimed he would be an “excellent” school teacher but a tribunal found he did not have the character for it.

Serial fraudster Stephen Gailanus lost his bid to teach kids after it was found he scammed a government department. Picture: Nicholas Eagar

A swindler slapped with 171 fraud offences for scamming a government scheme has lost his bid to teach kids after a tribunal found he had a “defect of character”.

Stephen Gailunas, 49, had high hopes of becoming a Victorian high school teacher but his dream was officially shot down this week after a bruising Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruling.

VCAT found his criminal conviction and incessant denial of his “serious” offending proved he was unfit to teach children.

In May 2015, Gailunas was charged with 171 fraud offences after he scammed a government program, called ‘Keys to Drive’.

He had previously worked as a driving instructor, using fake names, learner’s permits and email addresses to claim taxpayer funds for driving lessons police say he did not give.

Under the scheme, he was entitled to claim $55 per client, which led him to pocket $9,405 between April and July, 2012.

But when an industry regulator conducted a routine survey of driving students registered with the program, they found a number of his emails to ‘students’ bounced back.

Police opened an investigation and demanded to see his books, with Gailunas claiming he had ditched his records since he took up full-time work as a prison guard in mid-2012.

He was then charged but refused to enter a plea, maintaining he was “innocent”.

After negotiations, all charges except one count of obtaining property by deception were struck out.

In 2016 he was convicted and handed a Community Corrections Order, requiring him to complete 100 hours of unpaid community work and pay $9,405 in compensation.

In 2021, Gailunas, who was working as a PE teacher in Queensland, applied for a teaching registration in Victoria.

He submitted “glowing” reports from his former supervisors but the Victorian Institute of Teaching refused his application after learning of his conviction and continual denials.

“Police found that none of the names and learner’s permit numbers submitted by Gailanus matched VicRoads records,” the VIT stated, labelling his claims that he did conduct the lessons “impossible”.

Gailunas was “astounded” by his rejection and took the fight to VCAT, arguing he had been unfairly targeted by the VIT.

But VCAT found no evidence of a “vendetta” against him, labelling his allegations “misguided and another form of denial”.

“We consider the criminal conduct demonstrated a defect of character in that it constituted dishonesty and a fraudulent abuse of public funds,” the tribunal stated in its findings.

“A lack of candour in respect of a past criminal conviction is deeply concerning and does not indicate a character which warrants the privilege of registration.”