
Nada’s mum’s story
After my mother was certified dead by the hospital Registrar, I simply informed the nursing staff that I wished to take my mother home. They did not seem particularly...
Knowing the legal requirements and the range of available options will help you make choices that suit your circumstances. Below is a step-by-step outline of the process from death to final resting place.
There are no laws preventing you from moving a dead person from their place of death to another place (such as your home). However the place of death will determine what happens with the body in the first instance.
Cairns Base Hospital – when someone dies at the Cairns Base hospital their body will be taken to the Cairns Morgue. The next of kin or executor will have to authorise the release of the body from the Cairns Morgue to bring them home or to a funeral director.
Private Hospitals, Palliative Care and Aged Care Facilities – these places do not usually have anywhere to store bodies, so they will require you to arrange for the body to be removed as soon as possible.
At Home – You can keep a body at home if you want to as there are no laws in Queensland about this. You will need to manage the body to slow down decomposition.
In a Public Place – Queensland Police attend all deaths in a Public Place and will arrange for the body to be moved to the Cairns Morgue. The next of kin or executor will have to authorise the release of the body from the Cairns Morgue to bring home or to a funeral director.
In some cases, the Queensland Coroner will have legal rights to the body until they have investigated the circumstances of the death. Then they will release the body to the next of kin or executor.
If your circumstances allow you to take the time to say goodbye before the body is moved or taken away, you do not need to rush. There are no laws about the time in which you need to notify doctors, police or a funeral director. Take a moment at the time of death to say goodbye and invite other family or friends to do the same if they want.
Should you want to spend more than a couple of hours with the person who has died, it is advisable to slow down decomposition by turning on the air-conditioner and using cooling techniques on the body. During this time, decide if you want to engage a funeral director to assist, or if you will have a DIY funeral. If you need a funeral director, now is the time to ring around and get an idea of what services and costs each one offers.
Only when you are ready do you need to take the next step – to call a doctor, police or a funeral director.
Police, ambulance and nursing staff will complete a life extinct test to confirm the person has died. They will usually complete a Life Extinct Form. This is not a legal requirement, but it is best practice for these services. If the death is expected and has occurred at home, you do not need a Life Extinct Form.
All deaths that are not being investigated by the Coroner will need a Cause of Death Certificate to be issued. This is completed by a doctor, usually the person’s treating doctor. A Cause of Death Certificate can be issued by simply reviewing the person’s medical records. The doctor does not need to visit your house or nursing home to examine the body, but the doctor may request that.
A funeral director will not collect a body from a private home unless a Cause of Death Certificate has been issued. Call the person’s doctor first and ask for them to prepare a Cause of Death certificate and email it to you.
It is completely normal for a person that has died to release vomit, bile, urine or faeces. You may want to wash and care for the person yourself. It is easiest to place the body on a board, a door or something similar. Prior to bathing push down on the bladder region gently to release any urine. Use two people and a sheet to help you give the person a sponge bath. You can use soap, shampoo and a hair dryer if needed. Bring the body to the top of the board with one person supporting the head while the other uses a basin to wash the hair. Make sure to dry the body with towels, being quite gentle so as not to damage the skin.
Dressing the person can be quite difficult. Some ideas to assist include cutting the clothing off when removing. You can also cut new clothing at the back and tuck them in under the body to easier dressing. You can use cloth to wrap the person if you do not want to put clothing on them.
A coffin is only needed to make moving the body to a funeral, burial or cremation easier. It will be easiest to not have the person in a coffin until the last moment before leaving home. It is a bit difficult to buy your own coffin. A few suppliers are offering to ship cardboard coffins around Australia. You can request to purchase a coffin from a local funeral director.
You may choose to make your own coffin. You need to consider how strong it is, the size and the material it is made from. If you are arranging a cremation, you will need to get agreement from the crematorium that you can supply your own coffin. There are no laws about coffins, but crematoriums have their own policies. Coffins are made from many materials including wood, mdf, wicker, wool, cardboard and metal. You cannot cremate a metal coffin.
There are no legal restrictions on how to move a body, other than the dead person must not be visible while in transit. You can use your mates’ Ute, a van, a trailer, a horse drawn cart or whatever vehicle you can fit the person or coffin in. A hearse is not a legal requirement.
Remember to protect the body from decomposition by keeping it cool.
If you need to have a body transported long distances to another town, interstate or overseas, the company that is transporting the person may have requirements to chemically preserve and/or bio-seal the body. Ask lots of questions and find out what the actual requirements are so that you are not agreeing to expensive and/or invasive procedures that are not essential.
Funerals are much like weddings, they come in all shapes and sizes. Unlike weddings, there is no legal aspect to a funeral and therefore a celebrant or religious representative is not required if you don’t want one. You can have a funeral in your back yard, on a beach, in the community hall, at the graveside or in a church. Check Council regulations about using public spaces. You can have a funeral with or without the body present. It really is up to you.
In Cairns, almost all bodied are either buried or cremated. Most burials occur at Council-owned cemeteries. Applications can be made to bury on private land or outside of a Council cemetery in some cases. Burial at sea is also an option, with several restrictions and application requirements.
Cremation occurs at privately-owned crematoria. Both the body and the coffin are cremated. What remains after the cremation is then processed in a sort of blender that turns the bone pieces into a fine ash. Family or friends are provided with the option to take the cremated remains (ashes) of the person home in the days after the cremation.
The ashes you receive back from the crematorium come in a well-sealed, plastic, rectangular container. It is a bit bigger than a brick and typically contains 3 – 5kg of ashes. You can do whatever you like with the ashes. Keep them at home, put them in a Council or privately-owned memorial wall, bury them in a cemetery, spread them at home or in a public place. You can take ashes on an aeroplane or post them.
Important paperwork and notifications you will need to make includes:
Placing a death or funeral notice in the newspaper is not a legal requirement. Newspapers charge advertising fees for these notices. If you ask a funeral director to place the notice on your behalf, they may produce a notice that includes their logo. Newspapers charge per line, so you would then be paying for the funeral director’s advertising too. Ask for a notice without their logo to reduce the price. You can use social media to let people know about the death and the funeral.
After my mother was certified dead by the hospital Registrar, I simply informed the nursing staff that I wished to take my mother home. They did not seem particularly...
Our grandmother recently passed away in a private hospital. Within half an hour of our grandmother dying, the nurses told us that we would have only a few hours...
My dad was admitted to hospital the day I came out with my new three day old daughter. He died 10 days after. To say it was an emotional...
In the mortuary of a funeral home in the Blue Mountains, a 95-kilogram body lay in a body bag, on the floor. Six figures crouched around it, determined. On...
Let other people know what you did (or didn’t do) when your friend or relative died. Your story might give someone an idea for when they organise a funeral or help when someone has died.
Please note: all stories have a pre-post check so won’t appear immediately.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
We’d love to hear from you.
* Indicates mandatory field
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.