An appeal under s 134AD of the Accident Compensation Act 1985 (Vic) is a conventional appeal by way of rehearing governed by Warren v Coombes principles, not a sui generis appeal. The appellant bears an onus to persuade the Court of Appeal that the decision below was wrong, but need not identify specific error. The County Court is not a specialist tribunal for serious injury applications, and no advantage of familiarity inheres in a County Court judge by reason of status alone. Trial judges determining serious injury applications must deal with all significant evidence and contentions; where there is an apparent dissonance between the consequences found and the conclusion reached, some explanatory bridge is required.
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