Filipino migrant worker’s death in NSW referred to federal police | New South Wales

A coroner in New South Wales has reported the death of a Filipino migrant worker who died after jumping from a moving vehicle in 2019 to the Australian federal police for further investigation.

NSW deputy state coroner Rebecca Hosking shared her findings into the death of 21-year-old Jerwin Royupa on Friday. It concluded that Royupa, a winery intern, had been “abused” and subjected to “potentially criminal” behavior during his five weeks in Australia.

The coroner said Royupa died in March 2019 after he “voluntarily” jumped or fell from a minibus driven by the training program sponsor, who cannot be named for legal reasons. Hosking found that Royupa had become “increasingly afraid” of his visa sponsor in the days before his death.

_{Sign up: AÜ Breaking News email}

On March 14, 2019, Royupa voluntarily got out of the minibus driven by his sponsor after the man threatened to take him to the airport or the police.

As Royupa lay unconscious on the roadside, the sponsor did not immediately call an ambulance, describing him as a paramedic and left the scene after being told not to.

Hosking described the training sponsor’s behavior as “deplorable”.

Royupa died the next day at the Royal Melbourne hospital from complications of “multiple blunt force injuries”, Hosking said.

Hosking said he could not understand the exact reason why Royupa abandoned the vehicle, but he could not rule out the possibility that there was some kind of threat.

The coroner said the training sponsor understood that if Royupa escaped he would be responsible for the costs of the worker’s recovery. Hosking found that Royupa did not have access to his passport while living at the winery where he worked.

Royupa, a Filipino citizen who studied agriculture, moved to Australia five weeks before his death. He arrived on a temporary subclass 407 visa designed for workplace-based vocational training.

However, the coroner found that Royupa did “exclusively” manual labor and had not received any educational training, contrary to what had been recommended to him.

Hosking said the 21-year-old worker was required to work “excessive” hours of up to 60 hours a week, which contradicted the proposed “training programme”.

He had to work outside in extreme heat without proper clothing or sun protection.

He was promised a “generous allowance”, which Hosking said was “wholly inadequate”. However, he was not paid any money during his stay in Australia as the sponsor told Royupa that the salary would be paid after six months.

The investigation stated that the wage offered to Royupa was a basic salary of $134.92 per month, despite working 10 hours a day, six days a week.

Hosking accepted the Home Office’s view that it was “inappropriate” to approve the study visa as the same documents submitted by the sponsor as a separate candidate were rejected by the sponsor after Royupa’s death. The person deciding on the second nomination said they were unhappy that a “real” educational opportunity was intended.

The three-day investigation, held in December 2024, was the first to examine forced labor concerns in Australia since modern slavery crimes were criminalized through standalone offenses in 2013.

Hosking made six recommendations, including that the summary of forensic evidence and trial transcripts be sent to the AFP for further investigation.

He recommended the home secretary conduct an internal review to identify potential “lessons learned” and consider the need for a formal review to investigate the department’s role in approving 407 study visas that may have been used to exploit visa holders.

Hosking’s other recommendations included the NSW police commissioner liaising with the state’s anti-slavery commissioner to develop and implement mandatory modern slavery training for officers working in high-risk areas such as the state’s regional districts.

A spokesman said the Home Office was providing its full support to the investigation and was carefully reviewing the findings and recommendations.

“The Ministry extends our condolences to Mr. Royupa’s family and friends,” the spokesman said.

“The Ministry is working on strengthened regulations for education visas to protect visa holders and will incorporate the coroner’s findings into this work.”

The spokesperson said the department was subjecting all applications in the subclass 407 visa category to “close scrutiny” and that rejection rates for 2025-26 were currently 45%.

NSW Police has been contacted for comment.