On appeal from a serious injury determination under s 134AD of the Accident Compensation Act 1985, the Court of Appeal decides the serious injury question for itself without requiring the appellant to demonstrate error below. Where a worker returns to full heavy duties after an earlier back strain and then suffers a further injury, the earlier strain may be of limited significance in the causation analysis. The onus under s 134AB(19)(b) to prove loss of earning capacity is not discharged where evidence shows some capacity for light to medium alternative employment, even where the worker has no capacity for heavy manual work.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 15 later cases that cite this judgment.
4 of the 15 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.