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.
