Bodies must only be transported in body bags or other approved covering. The specifications for a body bag are listed in the Regulations. Additional precautions must be taken when the person has died from one of the infectious diseases listed in the Regulations. Although not specified in the Regulations, a body can presumably be transported to its final destination in a coffin rather than a body bag.
Normally, a body can be held by a person for no more than five days or by a funeral director for seven working days and it must be held in a certified holding facility. However, the Director General of the NSW Health can give conditional approval for storage in a private home. This approval can be obtained by sending a fax outlining the funeral plans to the relevant Area Health Service Public Health Unit who will send approval by return fax if the plans are acceptable.
To protect public health, a body cannot be stored unrefrigerated for more than 48 hours. Normally a funeral director will take care of the body, and funeral directors must have approved, refrigerated holding facilities. Some hospitals may be able to store the body of someone who has died in hospital until a family can arrange a funeral. However, many busy hospitals would be unable to do this. If a family is well prepared for a funeral prior to death, it would be possible to dispose of the body without needing refrigerated storage. For example, Muslims and Jews prefer to bury a body within 24 hours of death. Some do-it-yourself funerals have successfully kept the body chilled using frozen two-litre milk containers, packed around the body.
All bodies that are buried or cremated must be in a coffin at the time of disposal, unless approval is granted by the Director General. (For example, many Muslims are granted approval for burial in a shroud.) The Regulations do not specify any design restrictions but the funeral industry is currently producing some guidelines. This is to make sure that coffins meet logistic requirements such as fitting standard grave dimensions, or cremators, and meeting occupational health and safety requirements.
All coffins for cremation must have a fixed, but easy to remove nameplate, that is used in tracking the identity of the remains through the cremation process. It is possible to build your own coffin, to purchase a cardboard coffin from interstate, or to purchase a bamboo coffin from overseas. However, it may be difficult to find a funeral director who is prepared to use a coffin that they have not supplied.
Copyright © Australian Museum, 2008
