Avoiding traditional funeral practices: Australians' new perspective on death

Share and Follow

Some readers might find this content distressing.

Inside a quiet Hobart warehouse, a woman’s body is undergoing water cremation.

For 10 to 12 hours, her body will lie inside a stainless steel chamber where a hot, alkaline solution (think the opposite of acidic) breaks down soft tissue – proteins, blood, and fat – until only bones and metal implants, if she has any, remain.

The temperature is hot — 93C, but far less hot than a flame cremation, which reaches 800 to 1,000C.

Colloquially, it’s come to be known as a water cremation, but its technical term is alkaline hydrolysis.

“It’s a way of completely unmaking the chemical bonds that exist in the body,” said Luke Cripps, co-director of the only facility in Tasmania offering the service.

“There’s usually about 20 to 30 per cent more remains when we complete a water cremation process than a flame cremation.”

As water streams continuously over the body, Cripps explains, it mimics what happens in a traditional burial — when rain filters down through the soil and the casket or coffin and slowly breaks a body down over time.

“It’s easy when we pop someone underground to go, ‘That’s gone now,'” he said.

Two men in black coats stand in front of a stainless steel machine.

Co-directors Brendan Cooper and Luke Cripps brought water cremation to Tasmania in 2023. They run the only facility of its kind in Tasmania. Source: SBS

“But what happens beyond that point is alkaline hydrolysis. It just takes a really long time.”

This water crematorium in Tasmania was opened in 2023 by co-directors Brendan Cooper and Luke Cripps, who wanted to bring more choice to people.

There are many reasons people choose this path. Firstly, it’s undeniably more environmentally friendly, he says, explaining that there’s “roughly a 90 per cent reduction in emissions” compared to flame cremation.

The residual liquid, stripped of DNA and RNA but rich in salts and sugars, can be repurposed — used, he says, to help nourish overfarmed parts of Tasmania.

A man wearing a green apron, large red rubber gloves and a perspex face mask holding a bucket.

Brandon Cooper pouring out the potassium hydroxide for the water cremation to make the solution alkaline. Source: SBS

But it’s not only about science or sustainability. Again and again, families return to the same word when explaining their choice: gentle. The feeling, Cripps says, of a softer goodbye.

“That’s really the primary concern from all of the families that we work with. Are you somebody who’s going to take care of the person that I love? And are you going to treat them gently? And there’s an association for them with water that is gentle,” he said.

Mushroom suits, buried at sea and human composting

Water cremation is now regulated and available in Queensland, Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and South Australia. In Western Australia, it’s available, but only for pets.

Most Australians, around 70 per cent, choose cremation, according to researchers at the University of Melbourne.

However, this figure probably includes a small percentage of water cremations, as the numbers are lumped together, says Professor Michael Arnold of the DeathTech research team at the university.

The mineral bone remains that are left after a water cremation is completed, before they are ground into ash. Source: SBS

In Australia, a growing number of people are choosing a natural burial, which is allowed in some Australian states. In designated parks, you can be laid to rest in a simple shroud or biodegradable clothing. No chemicals to embalm the body. No polished casket. Straight into the ground.

Instead of a headstone, there’s a communal marker that holds the names of everyone resting beneath the soil.

In Kurweeton Cemetery in Victoria, people are being buried upright.

Some Australians are exploring the idea of a “mushroom suit”. The suit is embedded with mushroom spores and microbes that aid decomposition, neutralise toxins, and return nutrients to the soil. Cemeteries and Crematoria NSW include it on their list of eco-friendly options, but the suits are still rare and not widely available.

A split image of (left) A man next to a metal box in a paddock and (right) a street sign reading Kurweeton Rd.

In Kurweeton Cemetery in Victoria, people are being buried upright in their natural burial. Credit: Upright Burials

Beyond that, some Australians are starting to ask: what about composting our bodies?

It’s not permitted here yet, but human composting — also called natural organic reduction — is already allowed in at least 10 US states, with more expected to follow soon. It’s a process that turns a body into nutrient-rich soil, which some see as a way of giving back to the earth in death.

Donating your body to science is another way some people choose to leave a legacy — helping researchers or teaching the next generation of health professionals.

If your donation is accepted, universities or hospitals usually cover the cost of cremation afterwards, though not burial. It’s worth knowing that your family might not get your remains back for several years — and in some cases, not at all — depending on the program. Each place has its own rules, so it’s a good idea to look into the details ahead of time.

A man with a long grey beard reaching into an open wooden box containing earth, inside a room.

Body composting is gaining popularity in the US, with at least 10 states allowing the process — and others set to follow. Source: Getty / Hyoung Chang

Others are choosing a cardboard box, which is more cost-friendly and gives loved ones a place to write a message.

In Australia, burials at sea are legal but require a permit issued by the federal government, and only certain deep-water locations are approved.

Connections to the ocean—like being a fisherman or surfer—can support a sea burial application, but they’re not required. Scattering ashes at sea doesn’t need a permit.

The body, wrapped in a biodegradable shroud and weighted to sink, is released into open water.

One of the most notable studies on the environmental impacts of funeral practices, comparing water cremation, flame cremation and traditional burial, ranked them in that order from lowest environmental impact to highest impact.

Australia is about to enter ‘peak death’

With the baby boomer generation about to take Australia into “peak death”, as deathcare experts have dubbed it, many in the industry have been calling for innovation.

Currently, Australia’s funeral industry is facing challenges on multiple fronts. Earlier this year, a 113-hectare site in Sydney’s southwest opened to address the shortage of burial plots in the city’s long-standing cemeteries, which are nearing capacity.

This may be what a traditional cemetery looks like but as space runs out for burials within Australian cemeteries, we may have to re-think what a cemetery is. Source: Getty / Cultura Exclusive/Lost Horizon

Arnold from the DeathTech research team at the University of Melbourne, who says Melbourne is facing the same problem, says being buried itself is not a problem.

“The question is: ‘if you have not grown up and lived and have a connection to the community, do you want to travel? Do you want your family to drive all that distance to the new cemetery, over an hour in traffic in the car?'” Arnold told The Feed.

“The challenge for the industry is meeting competing demands in the market.”

If you have not grown up and lived and have a connection to the community, do you want to travel? Do you want your family to drive all that distance to the new cemetery?

Professor Michael Arnold, DeathTech research team at the University of Melbourne

In 2019, burial costs were estimated at $9,055, compared to $11,039 in 2023. Cremations cost an estimated $6,334 in 2019, whereas the estimate for 2023 is $8,045.

The problem with new technologies

There are some perception issues when it comes to bringing in new methods of death care, Paola Magni, an associate professor of forensic science who studies decomposition at Perth’s Murdoch University, told The Feed.

“There is a problem with the word ‘aqua cremation’. You think the water washes but not destroys — (but) there is nothing human left,” she said.

Even though what remains in the liquid after water cremation moves into tanks and is no longer recognisably human — a sterile mix reduced to things like amino acids and sugars — some mistakenly believe that a body is being “flushed” into the water system. Others worry about safety risks.

Cripps from the water crematorium in Tasmania said the biggest hurdle to getting the facility running was proving that the liquid posed no risk.

“We had a really long time talking with the water regulator in Tasmania about making sure that we could establish that the water that comes out the other end of this process is safe, that it’s non-toxic, that it’s able to be treated,” he said.

Arnold says the willingness to make a big leap and break from tradition, unsurprisingly, is hard to drive.

“Safer for the family to do what the family’s always done, safer for the funeral industry to do what they have always done,” he says.

“You only get one chance. It cannot go wrong. If something goes wrong at a funeral, the funeral director can’t turn to everybody and say, ‘okay, everybody. Come back tomorrow and we’ll start again.'”

But co-director of the water crematorium, Brendan Cooper, says he anticipates growing interest.

“As awareness grows about water cremation as well as the environmental benefits of it, the sustainability of it and the gentle sort of nature of it, it will become more popular as opposed to the other options,” he said.

“And that’s all it is — another option.”