Businessman with history of family violence resigns from gentlemen’s club role

A Melbourne businessman with a history of family violence has resigned as chair of The Australian Club’s house committee after his appointment last month caused ructions within the exclusive gentlemen’s club.

Nicholas Smedley told the club on Tuesday morning that he would step down from both the house and general committees after intense discussions in a flurry of WhatsApp messages about his suitability for the prestigious positions.

Nicholas Smedley has resigned as chair of The Australian Club’s house committee after The Age reported he had a history of family violence.

Smedley’s appointment had also sparked a backlash from family violence campaigners.

The Age revealed the 42-year-old was appointed chair of the house committee at the annual general meeting on May 1 despite pleading guilty in 2007 to two assault charges and one count of criminal damage involving his former fiancee.

Smedley admitted to shoving his former partner into a lift at his parents’ Toorak mansion, which left the then 23-year-old woman with a broken wrist. In a separate incident, he pulled his former partner’s hair in front of his elderly parents at their former residence on Albany Road in 2005.

Smedley, who was 24 at the time, also pleaded guilty to hiding in a wardrobe at the family’s Portsea holiday house before confronting his former partner and smashing her phone.

At the time, lawyers acting for Smedley offered the woman a financial settlement if she agreed to a specific denial of liability and signed a non-disclosure contract. She rejected the proposed deal.

He was handed a $750 fine and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond, but avoided a conviction.

Following the incident, Smedley lost his job with investment bank UBS and incurred the wrath of his father – prominent businessman and Carlton powerbroker Peter Smedley, who died in 2019.

The contentious decision to appoint Smedley last month has polarised the club, which was founded in 1878 and resides in a grand heritage-listed clubhouse on William Street that it refers to as a “timeless sanctuary providing respite from the bustling modern world”.

One member, who asked not to be named owing to the organisation’s long-held convention of not discussing its affairs with the media, said Smedley’s position had become untenable.

Nicholas Smedley (front row, fourth from left, with beard, wearing glasses and a velvet jacket) at The Australian Club following his appointment as the chair of the house committee last month.

“When they [the committee] learned about it, action was taken. It would be really unfair to criticise those incoming members of the committee who were completely blindsided. After it was reported in the press, it all happened very quickly. Smedley was a no-show at the first committee dinner,” the member said.

Another member, also bound by the club’s strict confidentiality rules, took a swipe at those within the club who supported Smedley’s appointment, which briefly gave him oversight of the dining room, accommodation and all official events.

“It was known by enough people ahead of the appointment. I am told at least one committee member resigned over it. So it’s a bit of an indictment on those who knew and stood idly by. Even more so on those who knew and enabled this individual and championed this promotion,” he said.

A spokesman for Smedley said he was complying with the club’s policy not to comment on club matters.

A spokesman for The Australian Club also declined to comment.

Smedley remains a member of the club.

Melbourne University law professor Heather Douglas, a renowned family violence researcher, had previously questioned the appointment of any man with a history of family violence into a senior role. She warned it sent a problematic message to the community.

“I do think it sends a pretty concerning message to society that, you know, violent men are appropriate to be leaders in our community,” Douglas told this masthead after Smedley’s appointment last month.

“In general, I think it’s unfortunate that violent men would be appointed to positions of leadership in any organisation.”

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