Preparing the burial of a loved one may seem overwhelming, but our staff are here to support you.
Below are some questions we're often asked about burials.
If you need more information, or have a question that's not covered here, please call us on (02) 4227 7780.
You will need to contact a funeral director to help you with the process of arranging a burial. Your funeral director will liaise with us throughout the process, but you're also welcome to contact us at any time with questions.
Steps that are typically involved in arranging a burial include:
- Choosing a burial site or arranging access to a site that has been pre-purchased.
- Holding a funeral or service
- Arranging a marker for the grave, such as a plaque, headstone or monument.
We take pride in meeting the cultural needs of our community. Our sites include specified areas for different faiths, as well as nondenominational areas.
You can also plan for the future and make arrangements for your future burial. This can give you and your family peace of mind, and make sure your wishes will be followed when you pass away.
"In perpetuity" means lasting forever.
Many people don't realise that burial and memorial sites purchased through commercial providers will often only be guaranteed for a limited number of years.
At Wollongong Memorial Gardens, all of our memorial and burial sites are provided in perpetuity. This means they will be permanent, and our dedicated team will continue to care for your site for future generations, with no ongoing costs.
Yes, you may make a coffin, as long as it meets Public Health guidelines. It must also be made of approved materials, and meet size requirements.
Please talk to your funeral director for advice about coffins.
Strict public health rules apply to the handling of bodies. You will generally need a funeral director or mortuary transport service to transport the body.
If you have any special requests, please ask your funeral director for advice.
No. We require people to select from our range of cemetery plaques, or use an approved monumental mason to create a headstone or monument.
This is to make sure grave markers are safe and will last a long time. It also helps to keep a high standard and consistent appearance at our cemeteries.
We will try and help family members stay together, however it may not always be possible to arrange this.
If you would like to make sure members of your family will be buried together, we recommend you consider pre-purchasing one or more burial sites, depending on availability. See our list of burial sites for available options.
Many of our burial sites can accommodate two interments (or burials) within one grave. This is a common way of ensuring that family members can be buried together.
Please contact us for advice about sites for family members.
You're welcome to place fresh flowers using the vases provided at our sites. However, we ask that you do not place other items, like toys, photographs or mementos.
Our staff regularly maintain memorial and burial sites, and reserve the right to remove any unauthorised items.
Please note that some grave monuments may be designed to include a candle holder.
You cannot plant trees or flowers at our memorial sites.
Our skilled team of gardeners work hard to make sure the gardens at our sites are planted appropriately and well maintained to provide a peaceful setting for everyone.
We keep a register of all burials and memorials created at our various locations.
Some of this information is made publicly available at no cost to people who search our records.
This information can be helpful for people researching their family history, or who want to find the final resting place of their loved ones.
Information from our records that we share publicly includes:
- The name of the deceased person
- The date of their death
- A short description of the memorial location.