Workplace Health and Safety Queensland are investigating the death of 27-year-old Jennifer Kohl, who died from a ride-on lawnmower accident earlier this month.
Ms Kohl was crushed by the mower on an avocado farm in Queensland. The vehicle was driven by a man when it rolled off a hill and pinned her body underneath.
Emergency services were called to the scene on MacDonnell Road in Tamborine Mountain in southeast Queensland.
They arrived at about 11.30am on December 8, but Ms Kohl was unable to be saved and died at the scene.
Her friend Mathias said she was a great inspiration.
"She was my best friend for over 10 years and she accompanied me through good and bad times," he told the Brisbane Times.
"She really meant (a) lot to me and with the news of her death I definitely lost a part of my life .... but she taught me to be a fighter and this is something I thank her (for).
"I will remember her as a strong woman, as someone who has enriched my life and I'm happy and proud to have met her."
Ms Kohl was from the east-German city of Leipzig.
Mathias described her as 'artistic' and a lover of cats, adding that her enthusiasm inspired him to pursue art as a hobby.
"I admired her for her passion," he said.
"Jennifer will be forever in my heart."
The investigation by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is continuing, with a report to be prepared for the coroner.
Calls for better protection of migrant workers
Ms Kohl is not the first death involving travellers taking part in Australia's backpacker program.
British traveller Mia Ayliffe-Chung was working on a farm in north Queensland when she and fellow British backpacker, Tom Jackson, was stabbed to death by a French backpacker at a hostel.
Mia's mother, Rosie Ayliffe, launched a campaign in July to prevent more backpacker deaths.
She criticised the 417 farm work visa scheme, alleging the exploitation of young people is "rife across Australia".
She also called for more federal government regulation of the visa scheme.
“I want to see regulation of the 88 days,” she told the ABC program, Australian Story.
“I want a central body which distributes backpackers among farms that are certified."
A 2016 report by the Fair Work Ombudsman into 417 visas found the scheme created an environment of exploitation in isolated locations.
It found unscrupulous businesses were imposing unlawful requirements on backpackers, who were usually recruited through word of mouth.
About a third of workers did not get paid for some or all of the work they had completed, while more than a third described their experience as fair or poor, the Ombudsman found.
More than a third of the 4,000 people surveyed by the Ombudsman said they had been paid less than the minimum wage.
