A funeral serves as a way to honour and remember the life of the deceased. It provides a space for friends and family to grieve and find closure.

A funeral is not only a way to honour and remember the life of a loved one, but it also brings grieving family and friends together in support of one another at a critical time.

In Australia, there are various types of funeral services, including traditional burials, cremations, eco-friendly or green burials, and even virtual or online memorial services.

At Tobin Brothers, we are able to offer a range of service options, from the most traditional right through to the unconventional.

If it’s legally possible, we can organise it for you. It’s a good idea to start with the question of burial or cremation and go from there.

While it's not legally required, many people choose to hire a Funeral Director to help with the logistics and arrangements, as they are experienced in handling funeral proceedings.

When someone has died, a medical practitioner must certify the death by completing the medical certificate of cause of death.

When preparing for your first appointment with a funeral director, it’s best to bring any documentation regarding any pre-arranged or pre-paid funeral plans.

When someone has died it can be daunting to know where to begin, and each individual situation is different. If you have recently experienced a death please call our 24 hour Funeral Advice Line for assistance on 13 19 34.

Please Note:
A medical professional must provide a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death within 48 hours of someone dying. If the death is unexpected or an accident, you must notify the police who will report the death to the coroner.

Beyond the initial calls that need to be made, which we have outlined in our blog: Someone has died: The first 24 hours, we recommend you start with the following list:

• Family members and close friends - both those of the deceased and your own, so that you have support during this time.
• Employer or educational establishments.
• Health professionals. You will also need to cancel any outstanding hospital, dental, podiatry or other health related appointments.
• Agencies providing care such as social services, home carers, meals on wheels and day centres.
• Financial Organisations, such as banks, insurance companies, pension providers, and more.
• Property and utilities, mortgage provider, real estate agency, utility companies etc.
• Government offices - Centrelink, Electoral Register, ATO, Medicare.

If you need more information or assistance regarding who to notify in the event of a death, please call our 24 hour Funeral Advice Line on 13 19 34.

Meeting with the funeral director can usually take up to 1-2 hours, as you begin to plan the funeral together.

The funeral director will ask about your loved one, to get to know who they were and the relationship you have with them, and find out any individual preferences or cultural requirements they might have for their funeral.

To begin with, a date and time for the service is usually decided in your first meeting, along with the location.
If any funeral plans were made prior to their death, you should bring any documentation along with you to the meeting.
Although it is extremely helpful when a loved one has made their wishes known, for many families this isn’t the case, and you will need to give some thought first of all to whether you want burial or cremation.

Another element to consider is whether you would like to have a viewing to spend some time saying goodbye to your loved one in private, generally the day prior to the funeral.

It’s a good idea to consider the personalisation options for the ceremony itself, such as music, rituals, flowers, etc. Our Memory Maker app is completely free to download and designed to help families with the process of personalising a funeral. The funeral director will also run through costs with you in detail, and prepare an itemised estimate so you know what to expect from a financial standing.

• A supportive family member or a friend.
• Any pre-paid documents or burial reservations, if applicable.
• Information for the Death Certificate.
• A recent photo to help us with their presentation.
• Clothing and accessories for your loved one to be dressed in. This can include jewellery, makeup, perfume or other personal items.
• A list of any questions you may have.

• Many families are surprised by the number of decisions and amount of detail which is required to arrange a funeral.

  Our experienced Funeral Planners will guide and direct families throughout this process.

  Some considerations are:

  • Location of funeral service
  • Instructions for burial or cremation
  • Will mourners attend this aspect of the funeral?
  • Catering
  • Viewing
  • Clothing for the deceased
  • Family involvement with carrying the coffin
  • Vehicle and cortege requirements
  • Personalisation options
  • Donations in lieu of flowers

  Remember, there are many types of funeral service, and you don’t have to do it in any particular way.

  Our Funeral Planners can make arrangements as simple, or as extravagant, as you decide, and can adhere to any personal preferences or cultural customs you may have.

• There are many ways you can personalise a funeral service with Tobin Brothers.
  We have arranged all sorts of funerals, from the most traditional service, right through to the most unique. In fact, as far as personalisation goes, if it’s legally possible, we can organise it for you.
  Read More

• During a cremation service, the deceased is placed in a cremation chamber, and intense heat is applied until the body is reduced to ashes. The ashes are then typically placed in an urn.

• A funeral is a formal ceremony to honour the deceased, while a wake is a more informal gathering where friends and family come together to share stories and memories.

  A funeral tends to have a set structure, with formalities that might include religious rites, music, the reading of literary or religious passages, a eulogy, prayer, and hymns. It might take place in a church, chapel, or graveside, and usually includes a committal service where the deceased is buried or cremated.

  In Australia, a wake is an informal gathering generally held after a funeral, but this varies among different cultures.

  The wake might take the form of light refreshments at the same location as the funeral, at the family home, or at a club or organisation dear to the deceased.

• Yes, there are plenty of ways to arrange a funeral that has minimal environmental impact.

  Ask your Funeral Planner about sustainable products and practices we can incorporate into the service.

• Yes, you can pre-plan your own funeral, which allows you to make decisions about your final arrangements and ease the burden on your loved ones when the time comes.

  Call our Funeral Advice Line today to talk to a Funeral Specialist to pre plan a funeral. Call 13 19 34

• There is no legal requirement to hold the funeral within a certain number of days of a death. It is always our advice to allow plenty of time. Many families put themselves under additional stress in an attempt to have the funeral as quickly as possible.

  Unless timing is culturally significant to you or your loved one, it is best to take all the time you need and allow yourself to experience the process without rush or pressure.

• We live in a multicultural society where some belief systems and traditions require that a funeral take place within forty-eight hours. However, generally speaking, the time and place of a funeral does not need to be decided immediately.

  Sometimes people believe that the more quickly the funeral can be held then the more quickly life will return to normal.

  In fact, taking time to consider the various options available, and to be sure that appropriate decisions are being made, can mean that the benefit of the funeral process is recognised and the healing processes can be assisted.

  As each day passes we may feel a little more able to accept the different processes of adjustment to the loss.

  Once the actual funeral process has commenced, a delay of a few days before the actual funeral may be helpful.

  Many people are grateful to be able to take their time so that family and friends who need to can travel from interstate or overseas to attend the funeral.

• In Australia the word coffin is normally used to describe a container for the deceased that is similar to body shape, that is, it is broader at the shoulders and narrower at the feet. Coffins normally have a removable lid and are made of wood.

  The word casket usually describes a rectangular container with a hinged lid. Caskets may be made from wood or metal.