Family-led funerals

Victorian law provides for families or individuals wishing to conduct a funeral without the assistance of a funeral director.

Under Victorian law, a family organising a funeral does not have to engage a funeral director.

However, the family takes on the legal duty to undertake all the activities and meet all of the legislative requirements associated with conducting a funeral, including (but not limited to):

  • undertaking all administrative requirements

  • meeting all statutory requirements

  • physically conducting the committal of the deceased

We can provide guidance on undertaking a family-led funeral, but we cannot fulfil the role of funeral director. This is a highly regulated process, and can prove to be distressing to some families, which means you need to do your research and make an informed decision.

For further information about this, please start by visiting:

For those wishing to undertake a family-led funeral for financial reasons, please visit our page on financial help beforehand to see if these options may be more suited to your needs.

We recommend that anyone interested in conducting a funeral without a funeral director seeks more detailed information.

Contact us to start the conversation.