Funeral Costs Sydney
Cost of a Funeral Service in Sydney, Liverpool or Parramatta
An important element of the arrangement conference is the discussion and agreement on funerals costs. At Life Perram and Timmins Funeral Services Sydney you will get a complete and accurate costing at this time. We aim to make it as complete and accurate as possible and will usually only vary due to changes in the funeral service requirements or cemetery charges which all need to be discussed directly. The cost of a funeral is divided into four sections:
Funeral Directors Fees
• Professional service fees
• Transfer fees
• Mortuary fees
• Transportation (if required)
• Embalming (if required)
• Special requirements
Coffin or Casket
• A personal choice for every family from a wide range
Disbursements, paid by the funeral director on your behalf
• Cemetery or cremation fees
• Doctors certificates for cremation
• Celebrant or clergy
• Press notices
• Floral tributes
• Government death certificate
• Printing
• Special requirements
Goods and Services Tax
• Yes even in funerals
Professional Service Fee
The provision of a funeral is a service. At Perram and Timmins Funerals we review our professional service fee every 6 months both to control the costs to our families as well as ensure our high standards are maintained. Our standards are the highest in the industry and developed over five decades of service to Sydney’s families.
Professional service fee will vary greatly between funeral homes. They will depend on the size of the funeral company, staff quality, equipment, vehicles, facilities, premises and standard of operation of the funeral company. Our services are listed below, not all families use every item of our services but they are there for you if needed.
As an aside our companies have used the concept of a service fee since the1960, s the list you see below has increased over the years but was developed by my late father. Many websites have similar lists developed from his original idea.
Our service fee includes:
• 24 hours,7 day provision of service
• Attendance at the arrangement conference
• Provision of licensed facilities to Health Department specifications
• Access to chapel if required
• Liaison between all groups required for the conduct of the funeral service namely clergy or celebrant, cemetery or crematorium and any others involved
• Organization of either Medical Certificate of Cause of Death or Coroners Order, as well as applicable Cremation Certificates in the case of Cremation
• Placement of newspaper notices in local, metropolitan or others as required.
• Attending to the registration of the death with the Registrar of Birth Deaths and Marriages
• Order Certified Death Certificate if required
• Provision of memorial book and attention to signatures of those in attendance at funeral
• Ordering and liaison with florist for suitable tributes, if required
• Provision and usage of licensed mortuary facilities for necessary time before funeral
• Provision of hearse and bearers in attendance at the funeral
• Maintenance of all occupational health and safety issues for staff and persons involved in the funeral
• Liaison with clubs and organisations involved in the funeral, if required
• Provision of musical equipment if required
• Liaison for orders of service or memorial cards if required
• Provision of all necessary equipment for the conduct of the funeral service
• Provision of Australian Flag for RSL services
• Attendance to all special requests and family instructions relating to the funeral
This is not in to be taken as a complete list but shows many of the direct services that are provided by the Funeral Director. Our company provides the infrastructure to conduct a funeral service long in advance of a family’s time of need.
(NB not all families will require the full ranges of services for all funeral services. Those specific items that can be separated are charged on an at request basis)
The Single Service:
Occurs when the funeral is held at one location namely at a crematorium, graveside, and church service in its entirety or other location.
The Dual Service
Involves the attendance at the initial service namely, church, chapel or other location and then a cortege to the final place of disposition or in certain circumstances at a later time. The difference relates to extra labour and equipment time involved only.
All services outside the Sydney Metropolitan area are costed as required.
Transfers
Transfer refers to the physical movement of you family member or loved one. There are two transfer associated with the funeral. They are:
Initial Transfer occurs from either the place of death (residence or nursing home), hospital or coroners mortuary depending on the circumstances surrounding the death. This can only occur when necessary documentation has been prepared by a Doctor, Registered Nurse or the Coroner.
Day of Service occurs from our funeral home to the church at then to cemetery or crematorium, directly to the crematorium or graveside if the service is to be at one location, airport or interstate if required.
The two transfers are combined and list as a single charge for both activities
Mortuary care
At Perram and Timmins Funerals we are mindful that the care of the family’s most precious possession has been entrusted to our care. All of our staff is acutely aware of our responsibility. In 2006 our policy changed to engage a “best practice” method of mortuary care. All mortuary activities have been increased to highest international levels and are supervised by a qualified embalmer.
Mortuary preparation is discussed and agreed with family members and carried out with the utmost respect. There are three levels of mortuary care and are discussed with the family at the arrangement conference. These are:
• Essential care, applied to all deceased and involves washing, dressing and preparation
• Temporary preservation, a partial embalming for the purpose of viewing. Since adopting this practice in 2006 we have never had more positive comment by families in relation to their viewing experience
• Full Embalming(see separate section)
A small cost applied to each of these levels of preparation and given at the arrangement conference.
Embalming
Arterial embalming is a process where the bodies natural circulatory system is use to replace bodily fluids with embalming fluids which will sanitise the body and slow down the body’s natural decay process. It has been used for several thousand years in situations where the body is required to be preserved over time. There is no reason why ever body can’t be embalmed and in certain parts of the world it is routinely carried out in almost all cases.
However in Australia it tends to be reserved for the following situation:
• If the final burial is to be in an above ground vault or tomb
• If the deceased is to be repatriated overseas for final disposition
• If viewing is to take place over several days prior to the funeral
The cost and pros and cons of embalming can be discussed with your funeral arranger. Please note that certain religions express prohibit the practice of embalming.
Overseas Repatriation
Repatriation as applied in the funeral process of preparing and shipping of a deceased either to or from Australia for the purpose of a funeral, and for the final disposition of the body to take place in that country. In repatriation many different things have to be considered in the cost, air freight and airline requirements, government regulations and charges, full embalming is usually required, specific requirements in relation to the type of coffin that must be used(this varies from country to country) and legal documentation.
Over the years Perram and Timmins Funerals has built up relations with many overseas funeral homes who can assist in this process. Likewise our expertise can be used to conduct repatriations to or from most overseas countries.
If you require immediate assitance call us now on 9821 4786 or if you would like an email quote
Should you be considering this option please contact our head office to discuss specific requirements.
