A former high-profile multicultural leader and writer has argued that pleading guilty to child sex abuse was no reason for him to lose his job.

Joseph Wakim was sentenced to 20 months' jail in July for sexually penetrating a 13-year-old boy in the child's bedroom in Melbourne early on Boxing Day morning 2015.

Joseph Wakim is serving a 20-month sentence for child sex abuse. Credit:Gene Ramirez

Wakim, who was a church leader, a highly respected member of the Arab community, and a Fairfax Media columnist and author who received the Order of Australia for his work addressing racism, pleaded guilty to the abuse in Melbourne Magistrates Court on April 1.

The Fair Work Commission has heard that it wasn't until April 5 that Wakim's bosses at Bluestar Global Logistics had the "head exploding moment" of learning about their national sales and marketing manager's crime from a media report.