Dean McKeon, from Drumcondra in Geelong, was visiting the popular Thailand holiday island of Phuket with five friends when he fell from his fourth floor room early on Saturday morning.
A security guard found the 33-year-old's body in a carpark outside the C&N Hotel in Patong at 6.40am on Saturday.
Lieutenant Jakapong Lurn-on told Phuket Wan, a tourist news website, that the balcony railings at the hotel were extremely short.
"It's tall enough to stop a child from falling but too short for adults, especially Westerners," he said.
Mr McKeon, who worked at Etihad Stadium in Docklands, had been in Thailand with a group of friends celebrating one of their birthdays.
Police who attended the accident scene told the man’s friends, who were not aware of what had happened until they received a knock on their door.
There are suggestions Mr McKeon had been sleepwalking at the time of his fall and that his body may have been at the carpark for up to two hours before it was discovered.
Ian Collins, CEO and managing director of Etihad Stadium, said Mr McKeon had been a valued member of staff for the past five years and would be sorely missed.
He was a member of our facilities team that maintained our stadium," Mr Collins said.
"We are a pretty small staff of about 85. He was very well liked by everybody and he was a good hard worker and he will be sorely missed.
"We were shocked when we found out that he had had the accident, and had been killed as a result. It just seems such a sad thing for such a young guy. He was an obliging, resourceful individual.
The baby of the family, Dean was "a beautiful bloke", she said.
A facilities co-ordinator at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, her brother lived in Drumcondra and had many friends.
"He was lovely to everyone, he was a really kind and gentle soul who loved music and was liked by everyone," she said.
"He was particularly close to his brother, Adam, with whom he travelled to Melbourne for work every day.
"They were just so close, the two of them they were the best of friends.''
Mrs McKeon said her son, lovingly nicknamed "Deanos", was generous to a fault.
"Dean was the most humble, amazing, kind-hearted man and even today we are learning just how valued and appreciated he was by his friends and work colleagues,'' Mrs McKeon said.
"Dean was most comfortable and outgoing when with his massive circle of friends, to whom he was exceptionally loyal.
He would give his last dollar to those in need."
The family was still investigating ways in which Mr McKeon's body could be returned to Australia for burial, Mrs Skuza said.
"We are negotiating at the moment whether the family needs to go over there or whether his friends can bring him home,'' she said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said consular officials from the Australian Embassy in Bangkok were providing assistance to Mr McKeon's travelling companions in Thailand.
Consular officials in Canberra were supporting his family in Australia, the spokesperson said.
A Thai online news report posted late on Saturday said Mr McKeon had been taken to the Patong Hospital.
Phuket provincial police and medical examiners were still investigating the cause of death, the report said.
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