How Do You Choose a Coffin in Australia?

Detailed Explanation

This page covers the Australian detail: local prices, the state rules on coffin price lists, and when a coffin can be left out altogether. For the general guide to coffin shapes, materials and how to decide, start with how to choose a coffin or casket.

Almost all Australian funerals use a coffin (the tapered, six-sided shape) rather than a rectangular American-style casket. Caskets are available, but they're a small part of the market and usually cost more.

Typical coffin prices in Australia

No government body sets or publishes coffin prices in Australia. The ranges below are typical market prices as of 2026, taken from how funeral providers and coffin suppliers price their ranges. Use them to compare, not as a quote.

For context, Moneysmart puts the total cost of a funeral at roughly $8,000 to around $20,000, and lists the coffin as one of the main costs. Choosing a simpler coffin is one of the easiest ways to bring that total down. See how much a funeral costs in Australia for the full breakdown.

Price lists in NSW and Victoria

Two states make funeral providers show coffin prices up front:

• New South Wales. The Funeral Goods and Services Information Standard, part of the Fair Trading Regulation 2019, requires funeral directors to display price information on their website, social media, at their premises and during home visits. For coffins, they can list the price of each coffin or give the price range of all coffins, caskets and shrouds they supply. They can't bundle items into one "total price" or describe something as "included" or "complimentary" instead of showing its price.
• Victoria. Under the Funerals Act 2006 and the Funerals Regulations 2025, funeral providers must show the full range and price of each coffin, casket or shroud, or a price range for all of them. Since 1 August 2025 the price list must be on the provider's website and displayed prominently at its premises. Further disclosure requirements started on 26 May 2026.

Other states and territories have their own rules or none specific to coffins, so a written, itemised quote is the best protection everywhere. If a final bill doesn't match what was agreed, see what you can do if a funeral home overcharges you.

When a coffin isn't required

In NSW, the Public Health Regulation 2022 requires a body to be buried or cremated in a coffin unless NSW Health approves otherwise. The Secretary of NSW Health can grant a general (ongoing) approval or one for a particular case:

• Burial without a coffin, for example in a cotton or linen shroud. Conditions include wrapping the body so nothing can leak, preparing it in a registered mortuary, and the cemetery agreeing to the burial.
• Cremation without a coffin. The body must be wrapped, placed on a rigid baseboard and covered, and prepared in a registered mortuary. Where an infectious disease is suspected, a sealed coffin is still required.

Applications go through the local public health unit. Shroud burial is common practice for some faith communities, particularly Muslim families, and experienced funeral directors know the process. Rules in other states differ, and individual cemeteries and natural burial grounds can be stricter than state law. See natural burial in Australia for examples.

Buying a coffin elsewhere

Families can buy coffins from coffin makers, online suppliers and some community groups, and some families arrange a funeral without a funeral director. Unlike the US, Australia has no national rule requiring a funeral director to accept a coffin bought elsewhere. The ACCC has noted that some funeral businesses require customers to buy products such as coffins from particular providers. Ask before you buy, and confirm the coffin meets the size and material requirements of the crematorium or cemetery.

Things to Consider

• Check the price list before the arrangement meeting. In NSW and Victoria it should be on the funeral director's website, which lets you set a budget at home rather than in the showroom.
• Burial or cremation changes the sensible choice. For cremation in Australia, a cardboard or simple veneered coffin is entirely appropriate. For burial, the cemetery may have its own requirements, especially natural burial grounds.
• Tell the funeral director early about a shroud or natural burial. Arranging NSW Health approval and a suitable mortuary takes time.
• Help with costs exists but is limited. If paying for the funeral is a problem, see who pays for a funeral when there's no money.
• Rental display caskets are an option for cremation. Some providers offer a rental casket for the service, with a simple insert cremated afterwards.

Common Mistakes

• Treating the showroom as the full range. Ask to see the price list, including the cheapest coffins.
• Accepting "the coffin is included" at face value. In NSW a funeral director can't use "included" in place of a price, and in every state it's reasonable to ask what the coffin actually costs within a package.
• Buying a coffin online without checking it will be accepted. Confirm with the funeral director and the crematorium or cemetery first.
• Assuming shroud burial is allowed everywhere. In NSW it needs NSW Health approval and the cemetery's agreement; other states and cemeteries set their own rules.