The average cost of a funeral in Australia is $4,000–$15,000 per funeral, plus the cost of burials, gravestones, and the plot for the body. If you go the cremation route, you still have to pay for the cremation and urn. The costs for all of this have ballooned and led to a society in Australia where you have to pay to die. The government has allowed funeral companies to profit off grieving families, and the exploitative industry charges hundreds for even the cheapest coffins. Even if you go for the cheapest option, companies will try to guilt-trip you into spending thousands more while you are mourning the death of a loved one.

This leads to people in Australia taking money out of their super to make sure their family does not have to suffer through the costs—money that should be used to enjoy their limited time in this wonderful country of ours. And because death is incredibly unpredictable, families can also be stuck with the cost, putting people in debt and making those who are already mourning the loss of a loved one suffer even more by having to worry about how the hell they are going to afford this.

During this, we are not hearing ANYTHING from politicians. I have not heard a single policy or even acknowledgement that there is a problem. The truth is that this affects everyone in this country, whether you are rich or poor or you are a working person who is just trying to get by. Everyone in their life will eventually have to experience the cost of a funeral or be the one that funeral is for.

This petition is calling for the following policies to be put into action ASAP:

The abolishment of the funeral industry and its replacement with a government-owned funeral system, where the government covers the full cost of funerals and cremations/burials, as well as the cost of any coffins/urns, the plot of land, and the gravestone the person may want.
A government fund to give mourning families financial assistance, depending on their financial situation, to help them get through the hard times, as well as cover the costs of anything that would not be covered, such as any repast and venues for a repast.
The government to also create a new manufacturing company to build coffins and gravestones at low cost with high-quality materials to ensure the government would not need to spend too much money on these measures.
The benefits of all this would allow people to mourn the loss of a loved one without having to worry about the costs that may come with it. It would also encourage the government to improve the healthcare system and do more to reduce suicide rates, as well as improve safety in our day-to-day lives—therefore increasing the average life expectancy in Australia. Additionally, it would encourage the government to close the gap for First Nations people and improve life expectancy for all people, whether white, Black, or part of the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as improve overall happiness. All of this would be encouraged because of the cost of funerals. If the cost of covering funerals gets too high, that would indicate to the government the need to improve safety.