Australian man dies in Bali after consulate declines emergency passport help
But here’s where it gets controversial: a missing passport and stalled consular action allegedly prevented a life-saving transfer that could have saved a man’s life.
Wayne Harvey, a 69-year-old Australian expat who had lived in Bali since 2018, was admitted to Denpasar’s Puri Raharja hospital on Christmas Eve in 2022 with suspected appendicitis. After an operation to remove his appendix, hospital staff told his son Jake Harvey in Australia that complications had occurred and Wayne could no longer be adequately cared for at the facility.
The hospital recommended transferring Wayne to the nearby Professor Ngoerah public hospital for continued treatment, but the transfer could not proceed because his passport was missing.
Jake, Wayne’s sole son and next of kin, contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on January 1, 2023. He explained that his father was unconscious and critically ill and requested an emergency passport to enable the transfer.
A consular official told Jake they could not discuss the case with him without his father’s permission due to the Privacy Act.
For more than two days, Jake repeatedly emailed and called the emergency line, even sending distressing videos and photos of his father on life support. On January 2, he warned that his father’s condition was worsening.
On January 3, Jake expressed frustration that the process was taking too long and asked the consulate to contact the hospital to obtain Wayne’s consent for Jake to act as next of kin. If consent could not be obtained due to Wayne’s medical state, he urged the consulate to begin talking to him directly.
That day, the consulate emailed Jake a summary of Wayne’s condition, purportedly based on information from an on-duty nurse, noting the hospital was “not up to Australian standard” but that Wayne’s condition was “stable” and improving. Jake disputed this, citing information from the hospital and a friend of Wayne’s.
In a subsequent email, Jake explained that hospital staff told him Wayne’s Passport was in the immigration office and that documents were needed to transfer him to Prof Ngoerah if his condition worsened. He asked whether the Consulate could assist in obtaining these documents.
There was no reply to this email or other follow-ups. The emergency passport was not issued, Wayne was not transferred, and he died at Puri Raharja on January 7, 2023. His body was later moved to the morgue at Prof Ngoerah.
Jake filed a formal complaint about the handling of his father’s case two days after Wayne’s death, but it was ignored for more than two years.
DFAT finally responded 27 months later, after Jake sent a second follow-up in mid-2025 expressing ongoing frustration at not receiving a reply. In late 2025, DFAT advised that it had conducted an internal investigation and issued an apology.
A letter from Paula Brewer, DFAT’s assistant secretary for the consular branch, dated October 2025 and seen by Guardian Australia, stated that the department reviewed Wayne’s case in light of Jake’s feedback. It acknowledged concerns about how the Consular Emergency Centre communicated and noted that the department had shared Wayne’s case with relevant teams to improve family communications during critical situations. It admitted there was a lack of clarity about the seriousness of Wayne’s condition and that steps were taken to share medical information with Jake once it became clear he could not provide consent. Brewer apologized for any additional distress caused during a difficult time and said the process and timelines, including public holidays, were not clearly explained.
Jake has pressed for more clarity, calling the department’s claim that it did not fully grasp the severity of his father’s condition unacceptable. He noted that consular services were sought precisely because Wayne needed to be moved to a hospital with more advanced care and that the missing passport prevented the transfer.
The Department maintained that its guidance was based on hospital information from January 3 stating Wayne’s condition as “stable.” A DFAT spokesperson conveyed condolences and said the internal review found consular procedures were followed, while also identifying areas for better communication with families and noting changes to processes. The department emphasized that privacy obligations limit discussion of case details.
In a Guardian response, the department reiterated its condolences and explained that improvements to communication and procedures have since been implemented, while clarifying that the review did not find the medical outcome to be connected to consular handling. The department also stated that further discussion of specifics remains constrained by privacy considerations.
