A New South Wales coroner has referred the death of Jerwin Royupa, a 21-year-old Filipino migrant worker, to the Australian Federal Police for further investigation. Royupa died in March 2019 after jumping from a moving van driven by his visa sponsor. Deputy state coroner Rebecca Hosking said Royupa was “exploited” and exposed to “potentially criminal” conduct during his five-week stay in Australia. Hosking found Royupa had become “increasingly fearful” of the sponsor in the days leading up to his death. On March 14, 2019, Royupa left the van voluntarily after being threatened with being taken to police or the airport. The sponsor did not call an ambulance immediately after Royupa lay unconscious on the roadside and left the scene after insults to paramedics. Royupa died the next day at Royal Melbourne Hospital from multiple blunt force injuries. Hosking described the sponsor's actions as “deplorable”. Royupa worked at a winery on a temporary subclass 407 visa meant for training. Instead, he was made to perform manual labour for up to 60 hours a week without proper training or sun protection. He received no wages during his time in Australia because the sponsor promised payment after six months. His planned monthly salary of $134.92 was far too little for the work done. The Department of Home Affairs agreed that approving this training visa was “inappropriate”. A second visa nomination was rejected for lacking a genuine training purpose. The three-day inquest in December 2024 was Australia's first examining forced labour since new modern slavery laws started in 2013. Hosking made six recommendations, including referring the case to the AFP for possible criminal probes. She also called for Home Affairs to review visa approval processes and for NSW police to implement mandatory modern slavery training. A Home Affairs spokesperson said the department offered full help to the inquest and is reviewing the findings. They are working on better rules to protect training visa recipients and noted a 45% refusal rate for subclass 407 visas in 2025-26. NSW Police has not commented yet.