The following matter is a summary of a case brought to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) by Matthew Kelaart.

VCAT has ordered the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) to re-register a teacher who appealed the decision of the VIT to not renew his registration.

In January 2023, the VIT made the decision to refuse Mr Kelaart’s application for renewal on the following grounds:

1. It was not in the public interest for him to teach in a school due to his character
2. He was found to have committed reportable conduct; and
3. He failed to provide evidence to satisfy VIT of his suitability to teach.

On 27 July 2023, Mr Kelaart made an application to VCAT for review of this decision and the review was heard on 4 and 5 February 2025.

During the VCAT hearing, VIT submitted the following 

1. the allegations against Mr Kelaart can be proven for the following reasons 
   a. whilst they did unavailable to give evidence at VCAT, the Tribunal can still give weight to the statements the alleged victim and witnesses gave to police 
   b. the metadata which can be interpreted by a layperson connects Mr Kelaart to the alleged conduct 
   c. Mr Kelaart did not give sworn evidence to contradict the allegations, and that the Tribunal can infer that his failure to give evidence is due to there being no beneficial evidence for him to give
2. if VCAT are satisfied that the allegations are proven to the requisite standard, they should affirm VIT’s decision to refuse his application for renewal of registration, noting the seriousness of the conduct and that Mr Kelaart has not demonstrated any insight or taken any steps to reduce engaging in the conduct again.  
    

During the VCAT hearing, Mr Kelaart submitted the following 

1. there is insufficient evidence to prove the allegations to the requisite standard and that there is evidence to suggest that the allegations were a fabrication
2. the Tribunal should give no weight to the statements made to police because the witnesses were not available for cross examination, nor to the metadata, because no expert witness was called to explain the evidence
3. even where the allegations are proven, the Tribunal should still grant Mr Kelaart registration (with or without conditions), taking into account several positive character references made about him.  

On 27 March 2025, VCAT determined that the allegations were not proven, and VIT was ordered to re-register Mr Matthew Kelaart as a teacher.  VIT has reinstated Mr Kelaart’s teacher registration.

The full case outcome can be found on the Tribunal’s website.