Finding into death of J V
Deceased
JV
Demographics
18y, male
Date of death
2023-10-07
Finding date
2023
Cause of death
Drowning
AI-generated summary
JV, an 18-year-old apprentice glazier with no known medical or mental health conditions, drowned at Tyers Pumping Station after jumping into water with an extremely strong current and dangerous back eddy effect. He and friends decided to swim at the location despite initial concerns about hazardous conditions. The area was unfenced, freely accessible, and lacked warning signage about water dangers. JV became caught in a vortex-like effect near the weir spillway and was unable to escape despite rescue attempts by friends. The coroner identified the strong water current and possible lack of swimming ability as contributing factors, and recommended a safety review by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action to establish countermeasures such as fencing and warning signage to prevent similar deaths.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- Extremely strong water current
- Dangerous back eddy and vortex-like effect near weir spillway
- Possible lack of swimming ability
- Absence of fencing around water entry points
- Absence of warning signage about water dangers and currents
- Freely accessible unfenced area
Coroner's recommendations
- The Secretary, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action should undertake a review of water safety at the Tyers River proximal to Tyers River Pumping Station to establish whether any new countermeasures could be put in place to reduce the risk to swimmers of drowning. The review may involve expertise and insights from organisations such as Victoria Police and Life Saving Victoria.
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —