Australian businessman Reginald Hodgens has been shot and killed in a town in the northern Philippines.

Key points: The 70-year-old was a building supervisor

The 70-year-old was a building supervisor He filed a legal case against a Filipino resident

He filed a legal case against a Filipino resident DFAT is providing family consular assistance

Philippines police are investigating the killing of the 70-year-old after his body was found with a bullet wound in the head.

Police said Mr Hodgens was a building supervisor who moved to the northern town of Sinait in the province of Ilocos Sur after he filed a case against a Filipino from another town.

Revenge is being investigated as a possible motive for the killing, but police refused to give more details on the case.

They have also notified the Australian Embassy in Manila of the incident.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) confirmed it was providing consular assistance, "to the family of an Australian man who died in the Philippines".

Consular assistance can include guidance with funeral arrangements and repatriation of remains, but Australian embassies have no authority to intervene in local court cases.

"Owing to our privacy obligations we will not provide further comment," DFAT said in a statement.