The County Court dismissed a serious injury application under s 93(17) of the Transport Accident Act 1986 (Vic), finding that the plaintiff failed to establish on the balance of probabilities that the 2011 transport accident caused or seriously aggravated a severe long-term mental disorder. The Court held that the prolonged absence of contemporaneous reporting of trauma symptoms in GP clinical records (2011–2016), the plaintiff's capacity to continue truck driving for approximately five years post-accident including obtaining licence upgrades, and the dominant explanatory role of pre-existing undiagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder and non-accident stressors (including Centrelink/Robodebt crisis and relationship breakdown) collectively undermined the causal nexus. The opinions of the plaintiff's treating psychiatrist (Dr Gudarzi) and forensic psychiatrist (Dr Cidoni) supporting accident-related PTSD were found to lack the necessary path of reasoning to overcome the objective chronology, with the defendant's expert (Associate Professor Doherty) preferred as providing a clearer forensic analysis.
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