Ten mostly young wedding guests were killed and another 25 injured, when a bus driven by Brett Andrew Button rolled over at a roundabout in Greta in the NSW Hunter Valley in 2023.
Sentencing proceedings against the company that employed Button - Linq Buslines - and two of its directors are taking place in Gosford Local Court on Wednesday.
Tearful parents of Singleton woman Rebecca Mullen, who died in the crash, outlined continuing grief at losing their beloved daughter.
Ms Mullen had been offered a position as a rural GP and, with her fiance, had posted out wedding invites only days before she was killed
She was a caring and family-oriented woman sorely missed by many, the court was told.
"(Rebecca) wanted to care for and help the people of a community similar to that in which she had been raised," father Matthew Mullen said.
"Her funeral was a testament to how many lives she was able to touch in just 26 years," mother Leanne Mullen said in court.
Button is serving a 32-year prison sentence for his role in the crash, as he was under the influence of opioid painkiller Tramadol and driving too fast at the time.Â
Linq directors Christopher Terrence Fogg and Anthony John Royle pleaded guilty to workplace safety breaches by failing to uphold their duty of care, having employed Button in his compromised state.
Mr Mullen said the consequences for the driver were of little comfort to his grieving family.
"I cannot understand how systems and processes supposed to protect the passengers and Bec did not prevent (Button) getting behind the wheel," he said.
Two surviving crash victims gave emotional accounts of long-lasting physical and mental tolls the crash has taken.
Former L'Oreal executive Jason Junkeer spoke of how an acquired brain injury from the crash led to him losing the job of his dreams.
"My body still behaves as though something is about to go wrong ... crowded and noisy places take real effort," he said.
His wife Sharon spent seven weeks in hospital after being dragged along the bitumen after the crash when the window she was sitting next to shattered.
"My nose was broken, my left ear and face required 57 stitches, tendons were severed down to the bone in my second and third fingers," she said.
"Everything in my world changed forever."
Outside court, the Junkeers said they were thankful to Judge Kirralee Perry for allowing victim impact statements to be read, given their inclusion was opposed by defence barrister Bruce Hodgkinson SC.
In July, the NSW Office of Transport Safety Investigations released a report detailing serious systemic failings in both bus regulation and passenger behaviour that contributed to the crash.
Chief investigator Jim Modrouvanos said not wearing seatbelts on coaches was a serious cultural problem across the community.
Only one fine had been handed out for not wearing a seatbelt on a coach in the past five years in NSW, indicating a need for a culture shift from police too, Mr Modrouvanos said.
The report also found Button's doctor knew he was taking opiates and his driving had been the subject of numerous complaints by other passengers in the years prior to the crash.
A final sentencing decision will be handed down on Wednesday afternoon.
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