Australian Funerals
Australia Funerals
When a death occurs few of us are well prepared, we all need assistance and support. The following information is intended to open up the subject.
The services you select may depend on whether you are making immediate arrangements for your loved one who has passed, or wish to make advanced arrangements.
Either way your Funeral Director will walk you through all of the services available and explain the costs and reason associated with each service.
Ceremonies, Services & Gatherings
A traditional funeral ceremony includes private viewings, a formal service at the location of your choice, and transportation to a ceremony.
Other public or private gatherings may include a Graveside Service or a Memorial Service.
A funeral or memorial is a customary way to recognise death and its finality.
Funerals are held for the living to show respect for the dead and to help survivors begin the grief process. They also give mourners a chance to share stories, create memories, fulfill religious beliefs & customs, participate in a support system, and gather at a peaceful place during a time of confusion and uncertainty.
The main role of the Funeral Director is to arrange with the following:
Obtain the signature of the attending physician, coroner or medical examiner and file the certificate with Births Deaths & Marriages. Transfer the deceased from the place of death to the Funeral Home. Determine the budget (if funeral has not been pre-arranged). Determine the funeral or memorial service location such as church, chapel, or graveside. Plan for viewing if required and determine type of coffin. Make necessary arrangements with clergy, church and cemetery officials. Compose and submit newspaper and other media notices. Choose clothing & jewelry. Select poems, scripture, readings. Select music: taped, live musicians, etc. Choose people to carry coffin. Arrange Florist. Purchase acknowledgement cards, register books,
memorial folders, etc. Arrange for family transportation to and from service.
What to do
Call the deceased's Doctor, once the doctor has identified the deceased and is satisfied as to the cause of death a Cause of Death Certificate will be prepared. If the Doctor has not attended the deceased in the past three months or the Doctor is uncertain as to the exact cause of death the Certification becomes a Coroner's matter.
After calling the Doctor, call your family or a close friend for support and help in this difficult period when pressure may be placed on you to make a number of decisions.
While waiting for the Doctor also decide on a Funeral Director and make initial contact.
When the Cause of Death Certificate is issued the Funeral Director may transport the deceased from the home to the Funeral Directors mortuary.
At Home
Call the deceased's Doctor, once the doctor has identified the deceased and is satisfied as to the cause of death a Cause of Death Certificate will be prepared. If the Doctor has not attended the deceased in the past three months or the Doctor is uncertain as to the exact cause of death the Certification becomes a Coroner's matter.
After calling the Doctor, call your family or a close friend for support and help in this difficult period when pressure may be placed on you to make a number of decisions.
While waiting for the Doctor also decide on a Funeral Director and make initial contact.
When the Cause of Death Certificate is issued the Funeral Director may transport the deceased from the home to the Funeral Directors mortuary.
You will have to decide whether a burial or cremation is required. If you decide on cremation a Doctor will be required to issue a Attending Practitioner's Certificate. Your Funeral Director will also assist you in completing two other forms:
* Registration of Death as required by Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages and
* If required an Application for Cremation.
With the support of family or a friend a number of decisions have to be made, your Funeral Director will usually guide you through them:
* Newspaper notices
* Style of casket
* Where and when service to take place
* Burial or Cremation arrangements
* Clergy or Celebrant
* Floral tributes or Charity donation
* Transport arrangements
At Hospital
After the medical staff at the hospital have satisfied the legal requirements regarding the cause of death and identity of the deceased a medical certificate, Cause of Death Certificate will be given to you.
If possible with the support of family or a close friend select a Funeral Director and ask that the deceased be transported to Funeral Director's mortuary.
You will have to decide whether a burial or cremation is required. If you decide on cremation a Doctor will be required to issue a Attending Practitioner's Certificate. Your Funeral Director will also assist you in completing two other forms:
* Registration of Death as required by Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages and
* If required a Application for Cremation.
With the support of family or a friend a number of decisions have to be made, your Funeral Director will usually guide you through them:
* Newspaper notices
* Style of casket
* Where and when service to take place
* Burial or Cremation arrangements
* Clergy or Celebrant
* Floral Tribute or Charity donation
* Transport arrangements
Accidental or Sudden Unexplained Death
Call the Police, normally they will arrange a government contracted Funeral Director to take the deceased to a placed where an official examination will take place. Normally the Police will refer the matter to the Coroner, who will prepare a report that will include a Certificate of Death and a Burial Order or a Cremation Permit . The Coroner report may take a few days even when the matter is relatively straight forward.
With support of family or a close friend you should select a Funeral Director who would be able to inform you what is happening in your particular circumstances. The Funeral Director will usually help and guide you through other matters that will require decisions:
* Liaise with the Coroner's office on your behalf
* Transport the deceased to the Funeral Director's mortuary
* Newspaper notices
* Style of casket
* Where and when service to take place
* Burial or Cremation arrangements
* Clergy or Celebrant
* Floral tributes or Charity donation
* Transport arrangements
In a Distant Place or Country
With support of family or a close friend you should select a local Funeral Director who should be able to advise you on the most cost effective way to handle the matter.
A Death Must Be Reported to a Coroner when :
A person has died suddenly and the cause is unknown
A person has died a violent or unnatural death
A medical practitioner has not issued a certificate stating cause of death
The deceased person was not attended by a medical practitioner within three months before death
A person has died within 24 hours of, or as a result of, the administration of an anesthetic (does not include when a local anesthetic was used for resuscitation)
A person has died within one year and one day of any accident to which the cause of death may be attributed
A person has died while in, or temporarily absent from, certain establishments that have been providing them with care, treatment and assistance, such as a hospital, residential centre, welfare facility or residential child care centre, or
A person has died while in police custody or while they were in, or temporarily absent from, a prison or a detention centre. An inquest must be held where there is a death in custody or during a Police Operation.
Types of services
A typical Christian service would have -
The Bidding - being made welcome, invited to remember the deceased, give thanks for their life and grieve their loss.
The Word - what the Bible and church says about death, this can be expressed in prayers, readings from the bible or hymns. Also a summing of the life, work and personality of the deceased.
Prayer - all are invited remember their relationship to the deceased and review their own lives in relationship to God. Also there is usually reference to the death and resurrection of The Lord which expresses grief, sorrow for wrong-doing, remembrance, thanksgiving and the triumph over death.
The Commendation and Farewell - wish the soul of the deceased to find rest, peace and a life hereafter. Also an opportunity for the bereaved to say their last goodbyes.
The Committal - when the coffin is lowered into the earth for burial or move behind a screen at the crematorium.
Secular i.e. Non- Religious
It is usual to have a professional Celebrant to officiate over the service, but the service itself can be organised to suit your particular needs.
Memorial Service
A memorial service is normally held when the deceased's body is not present. The body may not have been released by the Coroner or it has been buried or cremated elsewhere or not recovered from the sea or some inaccessible place or donated to medical science
In the case of a "public figure" a funeral service could be for the immediate family and a public memorial service held later to allow other to mourn the deceased.
