Can You Buy a Burial Plot in Advance in Australia?

Detailed Explanation

Australian cemeteries have long let people buy a grave ahead of time, and it's common among couples and families with an existing family grave. This page covers the Australian rules. For how buying ahead works in general, including the questions to ask any cemetery, see can you buy a burial plot in advance. For the full mechanics of burial in Australia, from plot types to headstones, see how does burial work in Australia.

What you're buying: an interment right

In Australia you buy an interment right (in Victoria, a right of interment) rather than the land. The cemetery trust, council, or operator continues to own the ground. The right lets the holder decide who can be buried in the plot and what memorial goes on it, within the cemetery's rules. A pre-need purchase buys exactly the same right as one bought at the time of a death, just earlier.

Cemetery law is a state matter, so the rules below differ between states. Most states also leave a lot to individual cemeteries, which set their own prices, availability, and policies.

New South Wales

NSW has had a formal interment rights system since 2018, under Part 4 of the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2013, overseen by Cemeteries & Crematoria NSW.

• Two types of right. A perpetual right lets remains stay undisturbed forever. A renewable right is for a limited period: at least 25 years initially for a burial, renewable for five years or more at a time, up to 99 years in total. Not every cemetery offers renewable rights. Rights granted before 2018 are perpetual unless the original terms said otherwise.
• The 50-year rule. A perpetual right bought pre-need must be used within 50 years. If it isn't, the operator may revoke it after notifying the holder, and must offer either a perpetual right over another site in the cemetery or compensation of half the current fee for a comparable site.
• The burial is usually paid for later. Unless the contract says otherwise, a pre-need buyer pays for the interment service (opening and closing the grave) at the time of need, at the price of the day.
• Written contracts are mandatory. Since 1 October 2024, licensed operators must use a consumer contract when selling interment rights.
• A certificate is issued. The operator must issue a certificate of interment right showing the holder, the site, how many people can be buried there, and who they are (or who can nominate them).
• Transfers need approval. A holder can apply to transfer the right, paying the operator's fee. The operator can approve or refuse. A right can also be left in a will. If the holder dies without doing so, it forms part of their estate.

Victoria

Victoria's rules sit under the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2003, administered by the Department of Health.

• Graves are perpetual. A place that can hold a body, such as a grave, vault, or crypt, is sold as a perpetual right of interment. Limited-tenure (25-year) rights exist only for places that hold ashes, such as niches.
• Unused rights can be surrendered for a refund. Right holders can surrender their right to the cemetery trust. The refund is based on the current cost of the same or a similar right, less an administration fee, calculated on a weighted scale the Department of Health sets for trusts.
• Long-unused rights can be cancelled, but only if the holder can't be found. If a right has existed for more than 25 years, has never been used, and the trust can't find the holder after diligent enquiry, the trust can cancel it and resell the site. If the former holder later comes forward, the trust must refund the current market value or provide a comparable site at no cost.
• Joint rights pass to the survivor. If joint holders buy a right together and one dies, their share passes to the other holder. A sole holder's right passes under their will or the intestacy rules.

Other states and territories

Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT, and the Northern Territory each have their own cemetery legislation, and many cemeteries are run by local councils or trusts with their own policies. Whether a cemetery sells in advance, whether rights are perpetual or fixed-term, and whether an unused right can be sold back all vary. Ask the cemetery directly and get its terms in writing.

Things to Consider

• Check for an existing family grave first. A grave with room for one more may already exist. The cemetery can check capacity from its records, and it's often the least expensive option.
• Keep your contact details current with the cemetery. In NSW the operator keeps a register of right holders, and it's the holder's job to update it. Notices about unused rights go to the details on file.
• Budget for the costs that come later. In most cases the interment fee and the headstone are paid at the time of need. See how much does a headstone or monument cost for that side of it.
• A plot is separate from a prepaid funeral. A prepaid funeral plan or funeral bond covers the funeral director's services, not the cemetery. You can buy one, both, or neither.
• Think about who else may need the grave. Joint rights and family graves make sense for couples, but decide at purchase who can be buried there, since it's recorded on the right.
• Leave the right in your will. Naming who should take over the right avoids a more involved process later. See how do you transfer an interment right after the holder has died.

Common Mistakes

• Not telling family. A certificate filed away where nobody looks is the most common reason a pre-purchased plot goes unused. Record it alongside your funeral wishes.
• Assuming the plot price covers the burial. In NSW the interment service is normally paid at the time of need, and the same is common elsewhere.
• Choosing a renewable right without thinking about the long term. It's cheaper up front, but if the right isn't renewed the remains may eventually be moved. For a plot bought decades ahead, that matters.
• Assuming another state's rules apply. NSW's 50-year rule and Victoria's refund scale are specific to those states. A cemetery in another state may do things quite differently.
• Letting the right drift after the holder dies. If nobody takes over the right, family can struggle to authorise a burial or inscription later. See what happens if an interment right lapses or isn't renewed.