Australian cities are running out of space to bury the dead, causing the cost of burials to skyrocket. But land scarcity isn’t the only thing causing the price hike. Large funeral companies and a sector with almost no regulation and little price transparency mean many people are paying for services they don’t want or need.
The funeral industry is a massive money-making machine. Projected revenue for 2020-21 is $1.6 billion, with Australia’s ageing population fuelling that figure. The sector was only moderately affected by the pandemic. The number of Australians aged 85 years and over is expected to double to more than 1 million people by 2042.
Funerals can cost thousands, with many grieving families unaware of their choices when it comes to saying goodbye to their loved ones.
In this four-part series on the industry, Crikey reports:
- The two biggest funeral providers in Australia are ASX-listed companies that account for a third of the entire market. InvoCare, which owns companies including Le Pine Funerals and White Lady Funerals, dominates 25.6% of Australia’s market.
- The $1.6 billion funeral industry relies on selling expensive packages to families, with many purchasing optional add-ons they believe to be mandatory. The sector has a profit margin of about 15%.
- Crown-owned burial plots in NSW will run out in the next decade in some states — with most of the remaining space owned by a single company, limiting competition.
- The sector has limited regulation, with many funeral providers acting as service brokers, subcontracting out services for whoever can do it for the cheapest price, and instances of staff carrying out invasive procedures on bodies with little to no training.
The lack of competition and transparency in the sector is such a concern that this year the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has launched a probe into the industry, with the report due in the coming months.
Part one: ‘If you have a mobile phone, you can call yourself a funeral director’
However dodgy things may be with the funeral business in some parts of Australia, be thankful it’s not (yet) like Moscow, where corrupt officials and violent organised crime gangs have complete control and milk it for every rouble. It’s not like anyone there has any choice when one of their family dies, they cannot just leave the body where it fell, and from that point they are in the grip of the ruthless funeral extortion machine. The OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) published an article 2019-07-01 “Saga of Corruption in Russian Funeral Business Continues” that provides a good introduction to how bad things are there.
After seeing how much money was spent on my mother’s funeral and knowing how horrified she would of been at the cost and ceremony my wife and I have both pre purchased low cost cremation services through Bare. We have informed our children and broader families that we are not holding funeral ceremonies however that family may choose to get together to remember/ celebrate at a later date. Everything is taken care of , they just need to ring a number and eventually our ashes and death certificates will arrive back . All done with no burdensome costs and decisions to be made.
Hi,
Latrobe Valley Funeral Services handled both my parents funerals and were excellent. All up the costs including refreshments for about sixt people cost round the $3,500 mark. The funeral home is excellent, the people are very nice and helpful. There was no pressure to spend lots on coffins flowers etc.
The funerals were run very smoothly. Although there isn’t a lot of competition in the Latrobe Valley we were treated well with costs being modest. I have attended many funerals at this place and have never heard a bad word said about Latrobe Valley Funeral services.
After arranging, along with family members, the funeral of my late mother, there is no need to convince me of the egregious preying upon people at that most vulnerable moment, and the blatant gouging of these big operators.
After my experience in 2011 I did a little research on InvoCare and found that the ACCC had taken some measures to prevent them becoming a monopoly in Sydney and Melbourne, but had seemingly ignored regional Australia. Capital city centricity!
The once council managed, reasonably priced crematorium and memorial park, where generations of locals had been laid to rest, is now in the rapacious claws of InvoCare, along with the other major facility in the region.
Making arrangements for my mother I eventually stood up and told my sister that she could complete the matter and that I would meet her outside the office. That was the point where the preying and gouging had become so blatant, so egregious that I wanted to lean across the desk and spit in that person’s face. And I kid you not.
Demand for a minimal service at Sutherland (Sydney) Crematorium 20yrs ago was so great that it allowed for only a 15min turnaround.
It was odd watching groups of mourners milling around before shuffling forward like hopefuls at a nightclub rope line.