Title: Arranging a funeral | State Library of NSW
Headings: Chapter 16: Arranging a funeral
Chapter 16: Arranging a funeral
Legislation and organisations
Making arrangements with a funeral director
What is a basic funeral?
Complaints about funeral directors
Cultural and religious customs and practices
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
Non-religious funerals
Doing it yourself
Required documents
Coffins and caskets
Viewing the deceased
Embalming
Cremation
At the crematorium
Safeguards
Collecting and disposing of the ashes
Religious attitudes to cremation
Burial at sea
Permits
Procedure
Burial on private land
Bodies bequeathed for scientific research
Stillborn babies
Sources of help
Funeral of a stillborn baby
Naming the baby
Blessings and baptisms
Burial or cremation
Arranging the ceremony
Counselling and support
Miscarriages
Documents required
Suicide
Police and coroner
Organ and tissue donation
Transporting bodies overseas
Legislation and organisations
Bringing human remains into Australia
Transporting ashes
Exhumation of human remains
Infectious diseases

Content: Coffins and caskets
Caskets are rectangular, while coffins are wider at the shoulders and narrower at the feet. Generally, coffins are less expensive than caskets. Prices vary widely, starting from around $1000. Rental coffins, which have a removable interior, are an option for reducing expense. There are certain minimum requirements for coffins and caskets in NSW, including that: they must be lined with plastic and able to be easily handled and sealed
if they are to be used for cremation, they must not be made of metal or any toxic material
if decorative handles are not made from a type of burnable plastic, they must be removed before the coffin or casket goes into the cremator. Coffins and caskets can be made from wood veneer, timber or metal. There are also environmentally-friendly options available such as caskets made from cardboard or wicker. Viewing the deceased
Bereavement counsellors agree that there is therapeutic value in viewing the deceased, allowing family and friends to gather together to express support fo