Coroner expresses concerns after Border man's death

Coroner Simon McGregor investigated the death of the 27-year-old, who was found dead in his bedroom by a friend on August 4, 2020.

He was living in Ballarat at the time, but grew up with his parents and two siblings in Albury-Wodonga and had also lived in Wagga.

The 27-year-old was farewelled at a service in Wodonga.

The Border Mail has chosen not to name the late man, whose death was found to be non-suspicious.

The man left a note speaking at length of an incident in 2011.

The note was passed to Wodonga sex offence detectives following his death, and they investigated the incident.

The 27-year-old man had opened up to his mother about being depressed three years after the incident occurred.

He had been reluctant to accept support for his mental health.

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The coroner said it was unclear how the late man obtained the gas used in his death, but said the substances remain largely unregulated.

Mr McGregor said coroners had focused on limiting access to the inert gases as a suicide prevention measure, but said the difficulty for regulators was that the gases had multiple legitimate uses.

Coroner Audrey Jamieson made a recommendation to the Department of Health and Human Services in 2020 that staff consider amending the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act to include the gas.

But the DHHS said "placing an expectation on retailers to have a role in assessing whether a single purchase is intended for legitimate use is not feasible".

Mr McGregor did not make further recommendations on the issue, which he noted had already been explored in previous coronial matters.

"However, I note my ongoing concern that access to argon gas remains unrestricted in this way," he said.

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