A birthkeeper who allegedly groomed pregnant women to fear hospital could be referred to prosecutors over potential criminal charges, a Victorian coroner has heard. Emily Lal was paid $6,000 to support Stacey Warnecke through her pregnancy. Warnecke died in September 2025 at Frankston hospital after a home birth and a postpartum haemorrhage. Counsel assisting the coroner said phone evidence contradicted Lal's earlier testimony, and that it would be open to find she was untruthful, which could lead to a perjury referral. The coroner will deliver her findings at a later date.
A coronial inquest into the deaths of six children at Hillcrest Primary School in northern Tasmania in 2021 is expected to hear evidence from a US dust devil expert. Counsel assisting the coroner, Maree Norton SC, told a Hobart case management hearing that she is looking to engage Dr Ralph Lorenz, a planetary scientist and aerospace engineer. Ms Norton said he would give his opinion on pressure drops and the interaction between the dust devil and the castle structure. The six children died when a wind gust lifted a jumping castle at an end-of-year celebration.
Ten years after four people died on the Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld, witnesses are still recalling the scene. On October 25, 2016, a pump failure left a raft stranded and another raft collided with it. A coronial inquest later found systemic failures, and Queensland introduced tougher theme park rules. Dreamworld says it has strengthened safety, but a safety expert argues boards of directors should face greater accountability.
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An inquest in Brisbane is examining why government agencies judged six-year-old Elizabeth Struhs safe before her death in January 2022. Her doctors had warned that her mother's extreme religious beliefs could sabotage her diabetes treatment, but child safety officers did not act on those warnings. A 2019 intervention ended after 17 weeks, and her father later stopped her insulin. Her parents and 14 church members were convicted in relation to her death. Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard will hand down her findings next year.
A coroner has declared Jessica Jade Zrinski dead and referred her disappearance to the unsolved homicide team. Ms Zrinski, 30, was last seen on CCTV at a petrol station in the NSW Blue Mountains in the company of Paul Jones, a Horsley Park man. Coroner David O'Neil found Mr Jones's account of events unconvincing and rejected his claim that drugs had affected his memory. Mr Jones left NSW soon after police searched his house. A $500,000 reward for information remains on offer.
A coroner broke down in tears in Brisbane after hearing from the sister of Elizabeth Struhs, an eight-year-old girl who died in January 2022. Elizabeth's father had agreed to stop giving her insulin for type-1 diabetes, in line with the beliefs of the religious group the Saints. Her sister Jayde told the inquest about the childhood milestones Elizabeth would never reach. Elizabeth's parents were jailed for 14 years after being found guilty of manslaughter in 2025. The coroner's findings will be delivered at a later date.
A South Australian coroner has found that convicted bomber Domenic Perre threatened to cough blood onto prison and health staff before he died in custody. State Coroner Naomi Kereru said Perre, 66, died of complications from lung disease, along with heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. She said his refusal to eat, take medication and allow blood glucose monitoring contributed to his poor health. The coroner found he was treated appropriately at all times and made no further recommendations. Perre was convicted in 2022 of murdering Detective Sergeant Geoffrey Bowen in a 1994 mail bombing.
A coroner broke down in tears in Brisbane after hearing from the sister of Elizabeth Struhs, an eight-year-old girl who died in January 2022. Elizabeth's father had agreed to stop giving her insulin for type-1 diabetes, in line with the beliefs of the religious group the Saints. Her sister Jayde told the inquest about the childhood milestones Elizabeth would never reach. Elizabeth's parents were jailed for 14 years after being found guilty of manslaughter in 2025. The coroner's findings will be delivered at a later date.
Child safety workers failed to recognise the coercive control exerted by Elizabeth Struhs's mother and a fringe church group over her father, an inquest has heard. A child safety worker told the court that staff were too narrowly focused on Elizabeth's diabetes management. She said the case plan identified only one form of abuse, when there were two, and that staff did not flag the serious risk posed by her mother's beliefs about medical treatment. Elizabeth died in 2022 after her father stopped giving her insulin. Her parents were each sentenced to 14 years for manslaughter.
Victorian coroner Paul Lawrie has found that online sports betting was the direct and paramount cause of the 2021 suicide of 22-year-old Kyle Hudson of Werribee. Hudson gambled $895,733 through Sportsbet and other platforms over four years. Lawrie said betting companies should not be solely responsible for monitoring gambling harm. He recommended the federal government consider restrictions on online gambling advertising and set up a national online gambling regulator.
A coroner says a lack of curiosity about a family's religious beliefs was a missed opportunity to save eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs. Elizabeth died in January 2022 of diabetic ketoacidosis after her father stopped giving her insulin. Her parents had told police, health workers and child safety staff about their views, but few asked why they held them. Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard is considering whether recommendations from Victoria's cults inquiry should apply in Queensland. Police said the issue was complex and that a new reporting flag had been created for ideologies of concern.
A Victorian coroner has found that online sports betting was the main and direct cause of the suicide of Kyle Hudson, a 22-year-old from Werribee. Hudson wagered $895,733 with various betting companies after opening a Sportsbet account on his 18th birthday, and died in 2021. Coroner Paul Lawrie said Hudson had no history of mental illness or drug and alcohol problems. He recommended the federal government consider banning gambling advertising and inducements for young customers, and creating a national gambling data vault. Sportsbet said it would consider the findings and remained committed to strengthening consumer protections.
A senior Queensland police officer has told an inquest that no protocol existed in 2019 for the Queensland Police Service and the Department of Child Safety to share information about criminal charges. The officer was questioned at the Coroners Court about communications before the death of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs in Toowoomba in 2022. Her father, Jason Struhs, stopped giving her insulin for type 1 diabetes. Her mother, Kerrie Struhs, had earlier served a jail sentence for child neglect. The inquest continues.
A coroner has found that a man who died at Junee Correctional Centre may have collected discarded cable ties from rubbish before taking his own life. Police believed Alexander Gavranic, 40, may have joined broken ties together, though the findings do not establish how he got them. The inquest also found he waited 305 days for a mental health assessment and died without seeing a professional, despite repeated requests. Deputy State Coroner Derek Lee said the long wait likely worsened his wellbeing, but could not determine whether treatment would have prevented his death.
A correctional officer assessed Kerrie Struhs as posing no immediate risk to others three weeks before she and others caused her eight-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, to die, a Brisbane inquest has heard. The officer had no access to Kerrie's offending history. Kerrie was jailed for child neglect after failing to take Elizabeth to hospital for type 1 diabetes in 2019. Elizabeth died 22 days after Kerrie's parole release, from diabetic ketoacidosis, after her father stopped providing insulin at their Toowoomba home. Kerrie, Jason and 12 other adults were convicted of manslaughter last year. The inquest continues.
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An inquest in the Brisbane Magistrates Court is examining the responses of several authorities before the death of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs. She died at her Toowoomba home in January 2022 after her father, Jason Struhs, stopped giving her insulin for type 1 diabetes. A Queensland Corrections officer told the court she met Elizabeth's mother, Kerrie Struhs, in December 2021. Kerrie said she would keep her trust in God that Elizabeth would be healed. The officer said Corrections did not engage with Child Safety in that period, as concerns were below the threshold for action. The inquest continues.
The family of Jeremiah Rivers, a 27-year-old Gija man from Warmun, want someone held accountable for his disappearance. He was last seen in October 2021 while on a trip with six other men. A Queensland coroner later found he was likely killed, but could not identify who was responsible. Coroner Donald MacKenzie said shifting accounts from the group delayed police. Rivers's aunts say the family wants a court hearing, and police are asking anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.
A NSW coroner has recorded an open finding into the 1935 death of Sydney police constable Leslie Andrew Nash, lifting a suicide verdict his family had long disputed. Nash was found with a gunshot wound at Hurstville police station, and the earlier ruling had left his widow without a police pension. Deputy State Coroner Judge Harriet Grahame said the evidence was too sparse to establish how he died, and she could not exclude an accidental discharge. Her recommendation asks the Police Commissioner to consider adding his name to the police Roll of Honour.
A coroner has suspended the inquest into the disappearance of Mackay schoolgirl Marilyn Wallman after a new witness emerged. Coroner David O'Connell said the family may suggest that brothers Noel and Tommy Morris were involved. Tommy Morris was not scheduled as a witness, and the court heard he had left Mackay for South Australia months after the disappearance. The inquest will resume on December 8. Witness Lyle Wright has given differing accounts of car colour and the whereabouts of Noel Morris.
Western Australian Attorney General Tony Buti will ask a coroner to hold an inquest into the deaths of three children in South Hedland. The children were killed by their mother in July 2022. Premier Roger Cook defended Mr Buti's handling of the matter, saying he had acted carefully. Indigenous elders said the decision came too late, but hoped it would provide answers for the family and lead to improvements in the town.
