The Supreme Court held that VCAT did not deny procedural fairness to a self-represented renter by receiving documentary evidence during a telephone hearing and reading its contents aloud, where the renter conceded the underlying facts and was able to respond to the material. The Court confirmed that the obligation to afford a reasonable opportunity to deal with adverse material is not absolute but contextual, and that refusal of an adjournment was not unfair where the renter had three months' notice of the issues to be determined and the documents were tendered strictly in reply to allegations the renter raised at hearing. On the proportionality assessment under s 330A of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic), the Court held that disagreement with the weight given to particular factors is not an error of law, and the Tribunal's oral reasons (which form part of the order under s 117(6) of the VCAT Act) were adequate.
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