Time to come clean on costs

A recent report by researchers at the University of Sydney is critical of Australia’s billion-dollar funeral industry, particularly in relation to pricing transparency, and has recommended changes it says will make it easier for consumers to understand what they are paying for.

The research was triggered by the experiences of report co-author, business academic Sandra Van Der Laan, who helped organise her sister's funeral in 2014 but found it difficult to get a breakdown of the costs.

The report, It’s Your Funeral: An Investigation into Death Care and the Funeral Industry of Australia, claims discrepancies between advertised prices and the actual price quoted, and inflated pricing of individual services in bundled packages.

It found funerals were, on average, 40 per cent more expensive in NSW and Western Australia than in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.

Professor Van Der Laan said one of the problems was that most people thought only funeral directors could make arrangements for a funeral, whereas the only thing required by law was the disposal of the body (direct committal), which could be done for a very reasonable price.

The report recommends:

Some not-for-profit funeral organisations now operate in various states. Bereavement Assistance Limited, founded in Victoria in 1997, offers funeral services to people who can’t afford a commercial service.

Spokesman Kieran Worthington said demand for the service had never been stronger with the organisation performing more than 500 funerals a year. “We don’t try to compete with the other funeral services but no one is ever refused a service from us,” he said.

COSTS associated with a funeral include:

ALLEGATIONS in the report have been strongly refuted by the industry, with past national president of the Australian Funeral Directors Association Darren Eddy describing it as showing a lack of knowledge of the industry.

“People aren’t funeral directors to take advantage of or exploit people,” he said. “I can categorically say I have never met a funeral director that preys on vulnerable people.”

Mr Eddy said the report’s authors had received on-the-spot quotes from an estimated 80 per cent of the funeral directors they contacted over the phone.

He said that when someone telephoned for a quote, the funeral director, particularly one from a smaller company, might be with a bereaved family, but would get back to the caller as quickly as possible. “I haven’t encountered a lack of transparency,” Mr Eddy said.

“I think people out there are savvy enough. A funeral director will give you the costs of the funeral when asked. If they don’t that’s a red flag.

“If the costs are not what you think appropriate, call another funeral director.”

He disputed claims that funeral directors immediately wanted to visit the bereaved person’s home, putting pressure on the family to accept the quoted service. He said his own business in Albury Wodonga did 95 per cent of arrangements at the funeral home.

Mr Eddy sent The Senior a copy of an open letter written by a funeral director in response to the report. We reproduce it in full with his permission.

An open letter in response to the critical reports about the funeral profession

To the authors, I say thank you.

Thank you for helping shed light on the various aspects of my profession.

As a fourth-generation funeral director in a family business, I am proud of my job and feel greatly rewarded for my service to our community.

This week I helped to support a family as they tragically farewelled their daughter, a child who died from cancer at the age of nine.

I cried empathetically behind closed doors but each day I went to work to make this bereaved family's life easier. My wife cried too because our whole family is invested in what I do.

I missed my own son's 8th birthday party because the parents of this child wanted to visit their daughter in our chapel after hours.

I did not resent this because I am reminded each day how privileged I am to be this position - a position to help in a tangible way. A way very few people are willing or able to do.

I will respectfully transfer into my care someone who died at home at 3.00am, go home to bed and do the same at 5.00am when called upon again. I don’t work 38-hour weeks but am always available, any time of the day or night - weekday or weekend. In my job, I respectfully transfer those who have died. Be it a 101-year-old from the nursing home or a 16-year-old from his bedroom after he has taken his own life.

I sit with broken families, arguing families, orphaned children, my friend's families and sometimes my own family during their time of loss. I am never judgmental and understand that every emotion experienced by families is normal and usual including anger, hopelessness, relief and even happiness. I convey this to families to allow them to grieve.

I wipe blood off bodies, reconstruct faces and hug strangers.

Many a Christmas morning I have spent with other families instead of my own. Families who are in shock, lost and need to know about each step of process which I will go through with them over the coming days.

I will walk a family through the funeral and burial process and provide choices along the way that help families create meaningful funerals and begin the healing process, because I know funerals provide a social support system for everyone grieving the death. Funerals give us a focused time to think about the meaning of life and death and offer a sense of continuity and hope for the living. I know funerals may be about the person who died, but they are for the living.

And yes, we do charge for the service we provide. We have buildings to maintain, cars and staffing costs.

However, we are transparent about that. Our prices are itemised, we do our utmost to work to people's budgets, we list costs on our website and we encourage people to do their research.

We also ask people to understand that most items on a funeral account are taken on behalf of other agencies or businesses such as newspaper notices, death certificate registration fees, florists and crematorium or cemetery fees. Fees we have no control over and receive no commission for taking.

Despite my disappointment in the accuracy of these reports and stories, I do say thank you for the opportunity it provides.

An opportunity to encourage people to take from it the key message: 'do your research!'

When the time comes ensure you choose a funeral director that is a member of the Australian Funeral Directors Association for then you can be assured they adhere to a transparent pricing structure and quality control standards.

And please place your trust in us to guide you because that's what we are trained for and that is what we are passionate about.