Review of NSW Cemeteries and Crematoria Act

The NSW Government has introduced amendments to the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2013 (the Act) into Parliament that will strengthen and improve the state’s cemeteries and crematoria sector and support the community and industry. 

In November 2024, Cemeteries and Crematoria NSW (CCNSW) invited stakeholders to provide feedback on proposed amendments to the Act, as outlined in its Review of the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2013 – discussion paper (PDF, 3.2 MB). CCNSW considered the stakeholder feedback, and the amendments introduced by the Minister for Lands and Property on 14 May 2025 reflect that feedback. 

The proposed changes will strengthen the regulatory powers of CCNSW to deliver improved outcomes for consumers and their families and provide clarity for interment industry operators. 

The amendments proposed by the government are designed to improve the interment industry in New South Wales by:

• strengthening the role of CCNSW in managing the resolution of complaints
• providing CCNSW with discretionary powers to share information about its regulatory activities with the public
• addressing the burial supply crisis by enabling activation of existing cemetery space for new interments, while respecting existing interments and any heritage items
• making it easier for relatives and community members to undertake monument maintenance to honour their loved ones
• considering feedback from advisory bodies representing operators, and community and consumer groups, on industry issues and ongoing industry development
• modernising the processes for operators when identifying and notifying an interment right holder to a more common-sense approach focused on reaching the right audience
• strengthening religious and cultural protections by requiring operators to ensure they are taking all reasonable steps to follow practices applicable to a portion of a cemetery.

The proposed amendments will also update CCNSW’s governance by dissolving the CCNSW Board and transferring its functions to the statutory appointment of the CEO of CCNSW. With the Board's leadership CCNSW has made great strides in recent years and improved its regulatory presence. Given CCNSW's maturation, this level of oversight is no longer required. CCNSW will remain subject to extensive oversight from the Minister for Lands and Property and the NSW Audit Office. That oversight is further strengthened in this Bill by establishing 2 advisory groups to provide sector engagement and accountability.

This Cemeteries and Crematoria Bill 2025 (PDF, 162 KB) sets out a summary of what the amendments mean for operators and consumers.

How did we get to this point?

The NSW Government commissioned a statutory review of the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2013. The review resulted in The 11th Hour – Solving Sydney's Cemetery Crisis (PDF, 24.6 MB) which was tabled in the NSW Parliament on 19 February 2021.

As a requirement under section 145 of the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2013, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal NSW (IPART) began an investigation into the costs and prices of interment services in New South Wales in May 2019 and provided its Final Report – Review of interment costs and prices – November 2020.

Starting in October 2020, the IPART also investigated competition, costs and pricing factors in the New South Wales funeral industry, submitting its Final Report – Competition costs and pricing in the NSW Funeral Industry – June 2021 of recommendations to the NSW Government on 26 August 2021.

CCNSW has addressed many of the recommendations in these reviews. The Interment Industry Scheme was introduced as part of the Cemeteries and Crematoria Regulation 2022. In 2022, the scheme established licencing conditions for cemetery and crematoria operators in the areas of consumer contracts, pricing transparency, customer service, cemetery maintenance, reporting, and religious, cultural and spiritual principles.