Grave concerns for burial shortages: Sydney’s cemetery crisis

By CHRISTINE LAI

Sydney’s severe burial shortage has presented a looming crisis where the cemetery capacity for the city is predicted to be exhausted in the next two decades. Urgent action is required to provide for the future burial needs of the city and prevent further financial strains for individuals under the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

According to a 2020 report, “The 11th Hour Report: Solving Sydney’s Cemetery Crisis”, which sought to review cemetery capacity and sustainability in the Sydney region, it found that Sydney was running out of burial space and that the existing cemeteries were not being managed sustainably.

Tim Scott, author of the 11th Hour, made findings which stated that the cemeteries that have served Sydneysiders for over a century (Rookwood, Botany, Field of Mars, and Macquarie Park) were in their final years of being able to accommodate the burial needs of Sydney. The independent report also found that some of these cemeteries would need to close within three years and all existing operational Crown cemeteries would close to new burials within the coming 10-12 years.

The financial implications for the burial shortage and near-capacity cemeteries in the city is severe, with the requirement needed to ensure the long-term maintenance of cemeteries even after they close to new burials presents a considerable financial liability, “in excess of $300 million”.

Severe financial liability associated with new burials

The required capital to build new cemeteries amounts to approximately $200-300 million. The last cemetery built in Sydney was Pinegrove Memorial Park, a crematorium in Minchinbury that was established over 50 years ago. Since its establishment in 1962, the Sydney population has grown by almost 3 million, raising concerns surrounding land availability and affordability of interment options for citizens.

The combination of a shortage of burial land, passive regulation and increasing prices (reflective of the supply-demand imbalance), has also resulted in religious communities being frustrated by the lack of strategic planning on behalf of the Crown, as they require burials to meet their customs and beliefs.

A spokesperson for OneCrown Cemeteries spoke to City Hub regarding Sydney cemeteries reaching near-capacity and concerns with the  exhaustion of burial land in metropolitan Sydney by 2051.

“Much has been written about the current state of the cemeteries sector and about the state of the operators and cemetery management historically in NSW.  We acknowledge the real and present challenge of a reduction in burial space at our sites, in light of a growing and ageing population in NSW.

Since its formation in May 2021, OneCrown Cemeteries has prioritised and continues to work diligently across our cemeteries to develop a range of sustainable options to meet our multicultural community’s needs for burial spaces”, they said in a statement.

Public calls for NSW Government to take immediate action on cemetery crisis

The 11th Hour Report highlighted three key areas requiring immediate NSW Government action including: Crown sector consolidation (addressing the financial sustainability of the Crown sector), strengthening the regulator (to enforce operator accountability and pricing transparency) and the acquisition of land to ensure the continuity of burial services for the community.

The representative for OneCrown Cemeteries outlined that they were committed to and were working steadily to meet the provision of available and affordable interments for all “communities, equity for all religious and cultural beliefs and long-term sustainability at all our sites”, which includes exploring a range of options to meet community needs for burial spaces into the future.

“In 2020 the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal released a report recommending changes to ensure interment prices are affordable, equitable, and transparent. We have adopted these recommendations within our pricing policy.

A funeral is a necessary part of their grieving process, it is therefore our responsibility to make the burial or cremation experience as easy as possible, which includes providing affordable and equitable services and making pricing transparent”, OneCrown Cemeteries spokesperson said.

Plans to develop new burial spaces for future generations

A spokesperson from the Department of Planning and Environment told City Hub that the NSW Government was aware of future burial space shortages in metropolitan Sydney and that NSW agencies are taking a whole-of-government approach to address the issue.

The Department of Planning and Environment has updated its planning rules so that cemeteries of 5,000 or more plots will be considered state significant developments.

According to the Department, the updated planning rules provide a “clear and consistent planning pathway for assessment and decision-making to help deliver burial space for future generations”. On 19 April 2023, the Minister for Lands and Property Kamper announced that the new NSW Government was working to address the challenges around cemeteries and crematoria policy, including by completing an audit into the supply of cemetery space in Sydney.

The development of Macarthur Memorial Park at Varroville is currently underway and will provide new burial space to meet future demand for Greater Metropolitan Sydney in coming years.

The Department of Planning and Environment has stated that the Macarthur Memorial Park has planning approval to develop about 136,000 burial plots.

Following the statutory review and 11th Hour report, Cemeteries and Crematoria NSW (CCNSW) is implementing an Interment Industry Scheme that will require cemetery and crematoria operators to provide easy-to-understand pricing for basic burial and ash interment products, plain language contracts for consumers, and minimum maintenance standards to help ensure pricing transparency and affordability for consumers.

According to the CCNSW, the new scheme will help consumers understand their options and provide them the ability to exercise choice.