Being allowed to do something and finding it manageable are different questions, and the state pages answer both. Below, each state in its own words, then what Western Australia asks of a family that takes it on.
New South Wales
NSW Fair Trading’s guide: “There is no legal requirement to use a funeral director”. Cemeteries & Crematoria NSW adds that if you hold a funeral, “you and your family and friends can make arrangements yourselves”, while noting that most people in NSW do engage one.
A few specifics from the same NSW sources:
- If a person has died at home, the body can stay at home for up to five days before it is transferred to a funeral director. NSW Health’s regulation sets that limit at 5 days from the date of death for anyone who is not a funeral director.
- A coffin or shroud can be bought directly from some suppliers, or made. Cemeteries & Crematoria NSW suggests checking the coffin specifications with the crematorium first.
- The ceremony itself, its place, speakers and celebrant, can be arranged by the family.
The same body is honest about the hard part: because transporting a body and arranging the cremation are challenging, “you will generally need to engage an experienced funeral director for support with these activities, even if holding an at-home funeral.” (© State of New South Wales (Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure), CC BY 4.0) Some families choose a mix, doing some tasks themselves and leaving others to a funeral director.
Victoria
Victoria’s Department of Health describes the application going to a cemetery trust that provides cremation, made by the applicant or by someone acting for them, a funeral director being one example. On the application form (Form 5), the arrangements section and the signed statement can be completed either by a funeral director or by whoever is arranging the cremation.
The body has to arrive in a coffin or other container that meets regulations 41 and 42 of the Cemeteries and Crematoria Regulations, including the labelling rules, and the trust is allowed to inspect it to check that nothing will hinder the cremation or harm the cremator.
Queensland
Under the Cremations Act 2003, a close relative or the personal representative may apply for permission to cremate “either personally or through an agent”. The Act’s own example of an agent is a funeral director.
Western Australia
The WA Government’s guide says a funeral director “is not compulsory but recommended”. For a family that wants to do it, the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board offers a Single Funeral Permit under the Cemeteries Act 1986, which lets the family take charge of all the funeral arrangements. The Board describes it as a lot of work, usually done within five to seven days, and while it recommends a licensed funeral director, it offers help to families who take the permit route.
What the Board asks of a family, in short
A summary in our own order of the Board’s 2025–26 Single Funeral Permit package for a cremation at its cemeteries (its “Requirements” and “Funeral procedures” sections set out the detail).
- Paperwork first. The family’s application for a permit to cremate (Form 6) and the treating doctor’s certificate (Form 7) go to a medical referee, who checks both and issues the permit; the package tells the family to ask about a pacemaker and whether it has been removed. The application for cremation and the permit must reach the cemetery 48 hours or more before the funeral.
- Who and what cover. An applicant aged over 18, using full legal names throughout, holding public liability insurance of $5,000,000 (as at October 2026).
- What the family supplies. Safe holding of the body that meets the health regulations; a coffin with a name plate on the lid and a lead strip bearing the surname beneath it; and a suitable vehicle, which for an adult means a hearse or station wagon.
- On the day. An identification form, completed before the coffin is sealed.
South Australia
South Australia’s Law Handbook lists the paperwork and legal steps, including getting the cremation permit, among the things a funeral director usually handles. In South Australia that permit is issued by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
The middle way
The choice is not all or nothing. Cemeteries & Crematoria NSW describes families who do some tasks themselves and leave others to a funeral director, and says this can lower the overall cost and give a closer sense of involvement. Cemeteries & Crematoria NSW also notes that a ceremony can be held at home or elsewhere, away from the cemetery or crematorium.
For anyone weighing it, the honest questions are practical ones: who can hold the body safely, who can move it, and who will deal with the forms. The state pages linked here set out what each of those means where you are.