A funeral is important as it allows the deceased’s family and friends to come together to reflect, honour and celebrate their life. Often the funeral provides the ritual/structure to assist family/friends to take the first step towards the healing process.

Whether you choose to have a basic, traditional or celebratory service family and friends will appreciate the opportunity to gather and reflect on their loved one and the impact they have had on them.

Every life is unique and the funeral is the perfect place to reflect on their achievements.

This is quite a complex question as there are many places and circumstances that can surround a death. One thing that should always be remembered is not to rush decisions or your selection of a Funeral Director. The cost of funerals can vary enormously depending on which Funeral Director you engage so we encourage you to compare services and prices.

At Home
If the death occurs in a family home with family or friends present a family member should contact the deceased’s doctor. Their doctor will usually issue a death certificate if they have treated the deceased in the past and they can confirm the cause of death.

However, if the death occurs in a home and no one is there at the time of death, the police will need to be notified and respond to the home before the deceased is transferred from their home.

A Funeral Director should not transfer the deceased into their care until such time as the death certificate has been completed and signed. Then call the Funeral Director that you wish to appoint to arrange for them to transfer the deceased into their care. Our 24-hour telephone number is 03 9329 4024.

While Under Supervised Care
When a death occurs in a care facility such as a hospital or nursing home, the professional staff will notify you and the necessary authorities. Often nursing homes, upon admittance, will ask which Funeral Director should be called should they need to be notified.

If the name of the funeral director has been left with them they will notify the funeral directors at the time of the death. The funeral director will contact you immediately following their notification to help you proceed and will make a time to meet with you and other family members. However, we suggest you contact the funeral directors immediately, so you’ve got the reassurance you need that all is taken care of properly.

Sudden or Unexpected Death
If a death is sudden or accidental, or the cause of death cannot be confirmed, it is the Doctor’s responsibility to notify the police. In these cases, it is important the deceased is not moved or disturbed in any way. The police will contact a government-appointed funeral contractor to transfer the deceased from the place of death to the Coroner’s mortuary.

The Coroner will then investigate and determine the cause of death, which may involve a post mortem examination. This procedure may slightly delay the funeral arrangements until the necessary clearance is obtained. You should contact us as soon as possible so we can liaise with the Coroner’s Court and make the necessary arrangements to take your loved one into our care as soon as we are able to. You are not under any obligation to engage the government appointed funeral director, the selection of Funeral Director is entirely your choice.

Death Interstate or Overseas
If the death occurs away from home, you should contact us immediately on 03 9329 4024 so we can make arrangements to transport the deceased home and attend to any legal, statutory or customs requirements. We have extensive experience in repatriations.

If your loved one’s wish was to be returned to their homeland for burial, we are able to attend to the extensive process of contacting government departments for you and processing the necessary documentation on your behalf.

We also have a fully qualified embalmer on staff who can undertake any preparation or embalming required.

Absolutely not. It is entirely up to you and your family. In fact, we always encourage families to take their time and not rush the arrangements.

At Gardenia Funerals we have our own mortuary where your loved one is taken once we are engaged to conduct the funeral.

If the deceased has gone to the Coroners Court this can potentially delay funeral arrangements.

The timing of the funeral can also be influenced by the deceased religious or cultural beliefs.

Once you have called to engage us to plan a funeral we will make a time to meet with you and other family members to plan all elements of the funeral.

There are three main elements to arranging a funeral:

Firstly we like to gather as much information as possible on the deceased such as their family life, hobbies, life achievements, career, family, and associations with Clubs etc so that we can plan a truly personalised and memorable funeral.

Secondly we will need to discuss what type of funeral that you would like to have and any celebratory elements that you would like to include. To assist you with this element you may wish to use our Planning Tool.

Thirdly we will need complete a number of statutory forms. These forms can be downloaded here and completed prior to the arrangement conference should you wish to do so. You can email the forms to info@gardeniafunerals.com.au or submit them online.

This is probably the question we are most often asked and it is a difficult one to answer until we know what type of funeral you are looking to hold. Our basic Cremation Package starts from $2,900.

For those people who are looking for a basic or traditional style of funeral, we suggest you compare what is included in our four packages. Alternatively, you can use our Funerals by Design Planning Tool to tailor a funeral to your specific needs and budget.

One significant way to reduce the cost of a funeral is to choose Cremation instead of Burial. Purchasing a new grave can add many thousands of dollars to the overall cost of a funeral.

Choosing a coffin instead of a casket can also save you a considerable amount.

It is also important to note that the cost of a funeral is made up of four components:

1. The Funeral Directors service fee and merchandise costs.
2. Statutory costs with respect to certificates etc.
3. Cemetery or Crematoria costs.
4. Payments made to third parties, ie Funeral Notices, Catering, Flowers etc – these are commonly called disbursements.

Most Funeral Directors will ask for disbursements to be paid prior to the funeral being held.

Absolutely. When you are purchasing a new grave it can cost thousands of dollars, particularly if the grave has the capacity for two or three interments.

Funeral Directors’ costs tend to vary depending on their fixed costs. For instance, if a company has multiple branches, a large fleet of vehicles and large numbers of staff then they will generally be more expensive than small to mid-sized family businesses.

There are a number of benefits and here are just a few:

• Decisions are taken without emotion, which occurs when a death happens.
• Making sure that your funeral is just the way you want it to be whether that is celebratory, basic, traditional or takes into account your faith and culture.
• Protecting your children from having to find the funds at the time of your death.
• You avoid the rising costs of funerals.
• The funds are securely invested in accordance with the Pre-Paid Act.

Make an appointment now to discuss and pre-plan a funeral or call us on 03 9329 4024.

Definitely not. Every family has the ability to engage the Funeral Director of their choice. The government appointed Funeral Directors are only engaged to transfer the deceased to the Coroner’s Court.

Yes you can. By visiting our Statutory Forms section. You can either download the forms here and/or complete them and submit via this website.

By law, a death does need to be registered but we will do this on your behalf together with applying for the Death Certificate.

An eTribute is an online memorial and provides a way for family and friends to express and share their thoughts on the person being remembered.

You can record condolences and tributes in text, audio, photographic and video formats. Place a Symbol of Love or Expression, view the photo gallery, printed materials, Life Tribute DVD, family tributes or contribute a special photograph/video and story to the Memory Timeline.

All cremated remains are returned to the family after the funeral. We can assist you with the selection of a Cremation Urn.

No, you don’t. Families have the choice of whether they want their loved one to be embalmed or not. We have a qualified embalmer on staff.

Quite often if a family is going to view the deceased prior to the funeral then they will choose to embalm the body.

When someone is being repatriated overseas generally they will be embalmed unless it goes against their faith or culture.

Repatriation is the process of returning a person to their place of origin or citizenship. There are a number of statutory requirements and costs involved in repatriating someone to their homeland.

It is important to know whom you might need to notify when someone dies including government agencies or organisations. The list below provides a guide to some of the organisations and people that you may need to contact. Download a copy.

• Family or friends living overseas
• Executor of Will
• Centrelink
• Banks, credit card providers or Credit Unions
• Australian Taxation Office
• Landlord
• Electoral Office
• VicRoads (license/registration)
• Medicare or Health Fund
• Insurance company
• The lawyer or Public Trustee
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Overseas Pensions
• The current or former employer
• Local Council (Rates, In-home services)
• Accountant
• Doctor or Specialist
• Chemist
• Dentist
• Podiatrists
• Ambulance Service
• Hairdresser
• Religious organisation or Church
• Post Office
• Companies, e.g., Directorships
• Superannuation Fund/s
• School or University
• Cable TV – Foxtel
• Telephone company
• Electricity company
• Gas company
• Clubs, Organisations and Associations
• Service Organisations – Red Cross, Rotary, Apex, Lions, Scouts, Guides, Zonta
• Trade Union
• Library
• Gardener
• Home delivery services (ie, newspaper, mail, bread, milk)