Accident compensation - Workers' compensation - Leave to bring common law proceedings - Serious injury - Cause of action arising before 12 November 1997 - Incapacity arising from injury not known until after 12 November 1997 - Leave application not to be commenced unless specified steps taken by worker before expiration of three years after date incapacity "became known" - Onus of proof on worker - Proof of absence of actual subjective knowledge sufficient - Whether discharged - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 135A(4)(b) 135AC(b)

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Leave to bring common law proceedings - Serious injury - Physiological change - Impairment to body function not sufficient - Serious injury arising on or after 20 October 1999 - Necessary for injury to be linked to employment on or after that date - Permanent serious impairment - Necessary to demonstrate likelihood that impairment would last for foreseeable future - Loss of earning capacity - Suitable alternative employment - Whether concerned with practicalities of worker's employability - Onus of proof - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 5 134AB(1) 134AB(2) 134AB(16) 134AB(37) 134AB(38) 134AD

Courts - Appeals - Court of Appeal - Appeal from County Court - Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Appeal from determination regarding serious injury - Principles and constraints - Court directed to "decide for itself" - Meaning and effect - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 134AC s 134AD

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Leave to bring common law proceedings - Serious injury - Chronic pain condition - Psychological embellishment of physical symptoms - Differentiation of psychological and physical consequences of injury - Appeal against grant of leave - Trial judge's reasons inadequate - Appeal allowed - Court of Appeal authorised to decide serious injury issue for itself - Credibility issue necessitating retrial - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 134AB(16), 134AB(37), 134AB(38)(h), 134AD

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Leave to bring common law proceedings - Serious injury - County Court - Leave refused - Reasons - Adequacy - Impression and value judgment - Status of County Court hearing serious injury applications - Not specialist tribunal for purpose of such applications - "Decide for itself" - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 134AB(16), 134AB(37), 134AC, 134AD - County Court Act 1958 (No 6230) s 74.

Courts and judges - Appeals - Court of Appeal - Appeal from County Court - Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Serious injury - Appeal from refusal of leave to bring common law proceedings - Nature of appeal - Conventional rehearing - Onus of persuasion - Court of Appeal directed to decide for itself - Record not equipping Court of Appeal to do so - Proceeding remitted to County Court - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 134AB(16), 134AB(37), 134AC, 134AD, 134AE

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Leave to bring common law proceedings - Appeal against refusal of leave - Serious injury - Chronic low back pain condition - Possible pre-existing degenerative condition - Disentangling of psychological and psychiatric consequences of compensable physical injury - Consideration of all evidence - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 134AB(16)(b) 134AB(19) 134AB(37) 134AB(38)(h) 134AD.

Courts and judges - Appeals - Appeal from County Court - Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Serious injury application - Court of Appeal to decide serious injury question for itself - Conflicting expert medical opinion - Determination according to entirety of evidence.

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Leave to bring common law proceedings - Serious injury - Foot fracture - Chronic regional pain syndrome - Physical origin - Loss of earning capacity - Regard to be had to the realities of the labour market - "Suitable employment" - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 5 134AB(38)(f).

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Leave to bring common law proceedings - Serious injury - Trial - Evidence - Admissibility - Victorian WorkCover Authority ("VWA") - Pre-trial disclosure obligations - Compliance - Prohibition on admission of undisclosed evidentiary material - Scope of prohibition - Prohibition expressly applicable to claim in respect of deemed serious injury - Whether prohibition applied to common law proceedings brought with leave of the court or the authority's consent - Co-worker - Viva voce evidence - Denial that injury-causing incident occurred - Non-disclosure of witness statement in possession of VWA - Trial judge ruling that worker had waived reliance on statutory prohibition - Ministerial direction affecting question of construction - No residual discretion in trial judge to admit or exclude evidence - "Other material" - Ministerial directions 3, 7.1, 7.4 - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) s 134AB(4) (5) (7) (8) (11).

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Leave to bring common law proceedings - Serious injury - Severe mental or permanent severe behavioural disturbance or disorder - Cause of action arising before 12 November 1997 - Limitation period - Expiration of three years after incapacity became known - Proof - Onus - Worker - Sufficiency - Absence of subjective knowledge of facts which, viewed objectively, constituted serious injury - "Became known" - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 135A(4)(b) 135AC(b).

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Leave to bring common law proceedings - Damages - Serious injury - Impairment - Evaluation - Fact, degree and value judgment - Imprecise adjectival criteria - Utility of check lists of relevant criteria - Need for consistency of application - Like cases to be treated alike - Utility of comparisons with earlier cases - Worker's stoicism - "Pain and suffering consequence" - "More than significant or marked and ... at least very considerable" - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 134AB(16)(b) 134AB(38)(b) 134AD

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Leave to bring common law proceedings - Damages - Serious injury - Impairment - Evaluation - Fact, degree and value judgment - Worker's stoicism - Aggravation of pre-existing asymptomatic degenerative cervical spine condition and consequences of soft tissue shoulder injury - Consideration of consequences of impairment as a whole - Adverse credit findings when credit not in issue - "Pain and suffering consequence" - "More than significant or marked and ... at least very considerable" - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 134AB(16)(b) 134AB(19)(a) 134AB(37) 134AB(38)(c) 134AD.

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Leave to bring common law proceedings - Serious injury - Loss of earning capacity - Assessment - Pre-injury capacity - Suitable employment - Criteria - Worker's place of residence - Employer - Evidentiary burden of proof - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 5 134AB(19) 134AB(38)(f).

Costs - Statutory direction - Workers compensation - Leave granted to commence common law proceedings - Pain and suffering claim only - Lapse of Calderbank offer - Judge not entitled to take account of Calderbank offer - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) s 134AB(27)(a).

Evidence - Expert evidence - Limits of medico-legal expertise - Workers compensation - Suitability of particular employment - Analysis of necessary physical capacity and individual impairment.