Waikato Police have released the name of the 23-year-old Australian woman who died in Waikato Hospital early on Sunday morning.

Ashleigh Jade Dargusch of Queensland suffered critical head injuries after falling from a ledge and landing head first onto rocks in the Kauaeranga Valley last week.

Police have named 23-year-old Ashleigh Jade Dargusch of Queensland, Australia, as the tourist who died on Sunday following a fall in the Kauaeranga Valley in southern Coromandel last week. Photo: File

Waikato District Command Centre Senior Sergeant Rupert Friend says Ashleigh and four friends had walked along the Kaueranga Valley Track to a watering hole on December 27.

'Standing five to seven metres above the hole on a ledge she was described as watching two friends jumping into the water,” says Rupert. 'She appears to have lost her footing and fallen on to a large slate of rock below suffering critical injuries.”

Ashleigh was airlifted out of the Kauaeranga Valley by the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust who had to winch a medic nearly 24m down to reach the woman.

Rupert says she was then flown by rescue helicopter to Waikato Hospital's Emergency Department and was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit where she died a week later.

'At this point in time I would like to extend the New Zealand Police's sympathies to her family and friends for their loss,” says Rupert.

Correction: An earlier story which appeared today reported the date of the accident as occuring on December 26, 2014, which was was incorrect. SunLive apologies for any confusion that may have been caused.