Unmarked Graves !

This week the body of Lindt cafe gunman Man Haron Monis was quietly buried in an unmarked grave.  The authorities are not prepared to divulge in which state this took place and the people involved have signed confidentiality agreements.  It throws the spotlight on an aspect of the funeral industry that remains out of sight - and out of mind - Pauper's funerals !

Every year there are vast numbers of people who have no assets and no bereaved relatives to pickup the tab for a funeral.   They include the homeless and many families where divisions run so deep that even death will not bridge the gaps.  Every death requires a doctor's certificate to determine the cause of death and unless this is forthcoming the coroner must hold an enquiry.   When all that is said and done, there remains the matter of disposal of the body.

The vast funeral industry competes on price to provide this service to the government.  In many cases the funeral cortege going to the cemetery actually contains two coffins.   The ornate, varnished one topped with flowers on the raised dias hides a plain particle board coffin beneath simply as a matter of economics.  When the public funeral is complete, this second coffin is discreetly buried in a less affluent part of the cemetery and the position recorded in case at some later time there arises a need for an exhumation.

Disposing of the remains of Man Haron Monis presented a unique problem.  There was intense revulsion that this man who migrated to Australia in 1996 and who had fanatical religious beliefs had caused the death of two innocent victims.  Sydney's Islamic funeral industry refused to have anything to do with his burial and the authorities feared that his grave site could become a shrine if it became known to others with similar religious beliefs.  It was decided that he would be buried in an unmarked grave.

Monis  (50) had no living relatives in Australia and his girlfriend, Amirah Droudis  was in a remand prison awaiting trial for the murder of his former partner, Noeleen Hayson Pal.  As a result, he was afforded a pauper's burial.

It is simply a matter of health and hygiene.   The dead need to be buried and it seems that there are no legal responsibilities to force that task on friends or families.  In the vast majority of cases, loved ones willingly see to the disposal of their relatives but where this is missing the task falls back onto the government.  Naturally, that is delivered at the lowest possible cost to the public purse.

We are rapidly running out of room in the public cemeteries of our major cities and costs are rising.  Cremation is a cheaper option, but cremation clashes with some religions and in many cases the religion of those having a pauper's funeral is unknown.   To be safer, the government has chosen to stick with burials.

At least the death of Monis has served some purpose.   Pauper funerals have remained unchanged for well over a century.  Now would be a good time to review procedures.