Jailed Xavier College old boy Dominic Walker loses bid for working with children check

A street brawling Xavier College old boy who stomped on a footy fan outside the MCG has made a surprise bid to do volunteer work with children.

A street brawling Xavier College old boy told a tribunal his year in jail was “incredibly hostile” during bid to return to doing volunteer work with kids.

Dominic Walker, 30 was released from prison in October 2020 after serving a year behind bars for his leading role in the “sickening”, drunken bashing of two middle-aged men outside the MCG.

Walker, a son of prominent barrister Tim Walker QC, wanted to work as a tutor with vulnerable kids at Banksia Gardens Community Services in Hume, and wanted a promotion in his job at the Melbourne Farmers’ Markets, both of which would have required a working with children check.

Dominic Walker leaving the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in 2019. Picture: AAP

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Monday refused Walker’s bid to overturn a bureaucrat’s decision to refuse him a check, ruling he might still pose an unjustifiable risk of violence.

The tribunal also found parents would have concerns about leaving their kids with him.

“In my view, a reasonable person, giving paramount priority to the welfare of their own child would be aghast at the assaults, which were horrific, and demonstrated a lack of any kind of self-control or restraint,” VCAT senior member Jonathon Smithers said.

“While perpetrated against an adult, the person would be conscious that the victim was clearly vulnerable, as a child would be.”

Walker, alongside brother Sam Walker and fellow Xavier College old boy Benjamin Fitt, attacked two men after an AFL finals match in 2018, which walker attended while sleep-deprived, and on a cocktail of prescription mediation and alcohol.

Benjamin Fitt was jailed for the cowardly attack. Picture: AAP

Sam Walker was sentenced to four months in prison. Picture: Aaron Francis

All three were jailed, with Walker handed the longest jail term for punching victim David Raeside in the head 15 times, bouncing his head off the concrete with each blow, stomping on him and walking away.

Mr Smithers said it was unlikely parents would comfortably leave their kids with a man who was still on a community corrections order for offending that displayed a “lack of impulse control and lack of empathy”.

“Given the horrendous nature of the assaults, it would be premature to conclude that the level of risk has been reduced to the point where the possibility of conduct which poses a risk to children/minors can be discounted in practical terms.”

The tribunal heard Walker has seen a string of mental health professionals, had quit taking medication and illicit drugs, and was no longer a problem drinker.

Mr Smithers said Walker had shown “heartfelt remorse” after being jailed:

He said Walker would likely be able to work with children in the future, but needed to show

his “personal transformation” had been “locked in”.