{"id":519986,"date":"2026-01-16T09:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T09:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/519986\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T09:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T09:03:12","slug":"death-of-filipino-worker-in-nsw-referred-to-afp-after-coronial-inquest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/519986\/","title":{"rendered":"Death of Filipino worker in NSW referred to AFP after coronial inquest"},"content":{"rendered":"

The death of a Filipino worker in southern New South Wales has been referred to the Australian Federal Police for an investigation following the findings of a coronial inquest.<\/p>\n

Deputy State Coroner Rebecca Hosking said Jerwin Royupa was “exploited” and exposed to “potentially criminal” behaviour during his time in regional NSW.<\/p>\n

The three-day coronial Inquest into the death of Mr Royupa was held in December 2024.<\/p>\n

It examined the working conditions he was subjected to at a southern NSW winery.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Mr Royupa studied in the Philippines before working in Australia.\u00a0 (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Mr Royupa arrived in Australia in February 2019 on a 407 training visa, which allows a candidate to participate in workplace-based occupational training activities.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old died five weeks later after he allegedly exited a moving vehicle.<\/p>\n

According to Magistrate Hosking, Mr Royupa studied a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and travelled to Australia to gain experience in the agriculture industry.<\/p>\n

‘Potentially criminal’<\/p>\n

While handing down her findings Magistrate Hosking said Mr Royupa died on March 15 at the Royal Melbourne Hospital “due to blunt-force injuries”.<\/p>\n

Between March 10 and 14, 2019, she said Mr Royupa became “fearful” of “operator one”.<\/p>\n

Magistrate Hosking said he felt threatened when “operator one” suggested he take Mr Royupa either to the airport or police station before he exited the vehicle.<\/p>\n

During the 2024 inquest the court heard Mr Royupa was owed more than 200 hours’ worth of pay at the NSW vineyard.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Mr Royupa’s pay was “wholly inadequate”, the coroner said. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

The inquest heard Mr Royupa was to be paid $134.92 per month to work 10 hours a day for six days a week and that Mr Royupa’s sponsor <\/strong>would withhold the money for the first six months of work.<\/p>\n

“I find that [in] the five week period, Jerwin was exploited,” Magistrate Hosking said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“While he was promised an allowance \u2026 the amount was wholly inadequate.”<\/p>\n

She said Mr Royupa was “required to work outside in excessive heat” without being provided sunscreen and appropriate clothing.<\/p>\n

Magistrate Hosking said what Mr Royupa was exposed to was “potentially criminal” and it was “inappropriate” for the Department of Home Affairs to approve the training visa.<\/p>\n

‘Hopes and dreams’<\/p>\n

Mr Royupa’s sister Jessa Joy said her brother was a “young man with everything to live for”.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jessa Joy travelled from the Philippines to hear the findings of the inquest into her brother’s death being handed down in Sydney. (ABC News: Abubakr Sajid)<\/p>\n

“Six years ago my little brother Jerwin left our family home in the Philippines with hopes and dreams in his heart,” Ms Joy said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He came to Australia to learn new skills in his chosen profession of agriculture.<\/p>\n

“Jerwin wanted to use these skills to support his parents.”<\/p>\n

Ms Joy said many Filipinos worked overseas and were aware of the risks involved. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“We all thought Jerwin would be safe in Australia,” she said.<\/p>\n

“He was not.”<\/p>\n

‘Further investigations’<\/p>\n

After handing down her findings Magistrate Hosking provided six recommendations, including that the transcript of the inquest to be referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for “further investigations.”<\/p>\n

She also recommended the minister of Home Affairs conduct an internal review with “respect to the potential lessons learned” and that a formal review into the department’s role in approving subclass 407 training visas be considered.<\/p>\n

“Including pay and employment conditions, monitoring and support,” Magistrate Hosking said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She also recommended the NSW Police commissioner liaise with the state’s anti-slavery commissioner with regard to the development and implementation of mandatory modern slavery training for officers operating in “high risk areas” where such conditions may arise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The death of a Filipino worker in southern New South Wales has been referred to the Australian Federal…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":519987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[231598,4740,112683,75121,231597,231596,231599,50,231601,231600,231602],"class_list":["post-519986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-407-training-visa","tag-australia","tag-australian-federal-police","tag-coronial-inquest","tag-filipino-worker","tag-jerwin-royupa","tag-jerwin-royupa-inquest","tag-news","tag-nsw-coroners-court","tag-rebecca-hosking","tag-riverina-worker-death"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115903974952398511","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}