NSW to Review Unmarked Shared Graves After Families Left Uninformed
New South Wales will urgently review its use of unmarked communal graves for people who die without money for funerals, after investigations documented strangers buried together in western Sydney without families being told. The Guardian
The burials took place at Rookwood cemetery in western Sydney. Those buried together include Vietnam veterans, rough sleepers, people with gambling addictions and migrants from developing countries. Each communal plot holds four to six unrelated people, with no individual marking. It is a bit like placing several unrelated files in one folder with no labels for each name.
According to the investigation, authorities in NSW did not notify family, friends and outreach workers before these shared burials. In at least six cases, friends, families, homelessness charities and community leaders were not informed. That denied them a chance to intervene and pay for a separate funeral. A Guardian Australia investigation found hundreds of poor and vulnerable Australians have been sent into unmarked communal graves through this process, including a man identified as Peter. Guardian Australia
NSW Health apologised, saying it "has not always treated those without financial means with the dignity and respect they are entitled to." Health minister Ryan Park said he had not been previously aware of how the graves were being used. He has asked his department to study reforms, including the Victorian model where each person receives their own plot and marking. The cost is $3,000 per funeral. Park called the past failings "unacceptable."
Independent senator David Pocock urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to raise the issue at national cabinet, the regular meeting where federal and state leaders coordinate policy. Pocock called for a uniform agreement across states and territories to ensure dignified burials and a basic standard of notification for families, friends and associates of the deceased. He wants Albanese to use national cabinet to stop the use of unmarked communal graves for impoverished Australians.
Shadow minister for defence personnel Phillip Thompson said he was disappointed to hear Australian veterans were among those buried in unmarked mass graves. ABC's Radio National Hour featured a segment titled 'The Australians buried in unmarked communal graves' about people who die in poverty being buried alongside strangers in unmarked graves. ABC
The broader context here is that burial for people without means sits with states and territories, which set procedure, procurement and notification practice, while national cabinet offers the only routine forum for harmonisation.
In my view, the questions to watch are whether ministers accept a binding notification floor, who funds individual plots if the Victorian approach spreads, and how health departments audit past burials without reopening distress for families. Uniformity would not erase cost pressures, but the NSW review has put the current trade-off between cost containment and dignity under direct political scrutiny.
