Ephraim Dzagba, then a casual residential worker at a regional youth care unit run by Berry Street, was scrolling on his phone when he inadvertently found the abuse clip in March 2020.

Mr Dzagba, 24, then showed his colleague the video, which was filmed in a foreign country.

The distressed woman pushed his phone away before reporting the matter to her supervisors, who told police.

Mr Dzagba, a former refugee with no criminal history, was never charged with anything but authorities revoked his working with children clearance in October 2020.

Senior Member Elisabeth Wentworth, reviewing the matter before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, said neither immaturity nor carelessness could explain Mr Dzagba's actions.

She affirmed the decision to revoke his clearance to work with children after finding the 24-year-old posed an "unjustifiable risk" to the safety of children.

"Without warning, he showed his colleague what is properly described as a vile video depicting the rape of a child," Ms Wentworth said in her written reasons, published in January.

"There is an element of something akin to a form of violence, to present a colleague without warning or consent with images of the kind described in the material before me.

"It is concerning that anything of the kind would be done at all, by anyone."

The female colleague told the tribunal Mr Dzagba "laughed it off" before watching the video twice more.

The 24-year-old, who has a health science degree, now works in finance.

"Even if accepted, the explanations Mr Dzagba gave - that he showed the video to his co-worker because he thought it was disgusting and sad (or) that he didn't think - raise unanswered questions about his understanding and judgment," Ms Wentworth said.

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