Aussie families could soon play sports in cemeteries amid a bizarre push to transform cemeteries into multi-purpose green spaces.
Experts propose that serious reuse or renewable property rights become the norm in cemeteries as facilities across the country struggle with declining empty space.
The Hannah Gould, the University of Melbourne’s DeathTech research team, argued that changing regulations could bring Victoria’s cemeteries into modern times as multi-purpose green spaces.
“Think about someone who’s passed away and is a huge footy fan… I think there’s a respectful way to play kick to kick at someone’s grave,” Dr Gould said.
“There are all those activities that we like to do in nature that can also honor the legacy of the dead that we might want to be able to do in our cemeteries.”
Experts urge serious reuse or renewable property rights to become the norm at cemeteries as facilities across the country struggle with dwindling empty space (pictured, cemetery on Lake Rowan Victoria)
Dr. Gould added that a change is needed to the cemetery’s space, allowing the cemetery to be moved in place of graves belonging to one person.
“Many of the changes that we know need to happen are important, but they require a lot of political courage because they’re not necessarily immediately popular,” she said.
“Virtually everyone in the industry recognizes the need to solve our cemetery crisis in the future.”
Dr. Gould said the industry’s problems were structural and stemmed from Australia’s lack of dedicated death and dying governance.
The vast majority of Australian jurisdictions have perpetual tenure as their default.
Victorian regulations by design uphold cemeteries as sombre places of contemplation, making it an offense for people to engage in activities such as sport, fishing or bathing.
It is mandatory for full-body burials in Victoria and the ACT, granted in the Northern Territory and practically the default in NSW, Queensland and Tasmania, despite those states having options for limited tenure.
In contrast, the term of office in Western Australia is 25 years, with the option for families to extend the period.
South Australia has longer tenures of up to 99 years, but if families fail to extend tenures, their loved ones’ remains are removed or buried deeper into the ground.
But dr. Gould said perpetual tenure is rare abroad, adding, “It’s the only kind of real estate we have that’s permanent.”
She said any change in Victoria should not be retroactive, but that the state government had an opportunity to reconsider perpetual property laws in addition to reviewing the cemetery rules, which will be updated in 2025.
Andrew Eriksen, CEO of Victoria’s Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust, says a permanent appointment is part of what makes cemeteries rich in history.
He said while central Melbourne faced challenges, the wider city was not struggling with a lack of cemeteries.
The DeathTech research team at the University of Melbourne, Hannah Gould, suggests that regulatory changes could bring cemeteries into the modern age as multi-purpose green spaces. Gould added, “there’s a respectful way to play kick to kick near someone’s grave” (stock image)
The trust’s Harkness development will be the state’s largest cemetery built in a century, catering to the growing population in the western part of the city. Additional land has been set aside in northern Melbourne.
“Some people look at a cemetery and see the history … they think of all the stories of the person who came before us and what we can learn from them,” Eriksen said.
The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust has already embraced visitors who cycle and jog through its cemeteries and envisions Harkness development existing in harmony with nature.
Designs for the development raise special land for eco-friendly burial options — natural burials, for example — as a possible inclusion.
‘There is a need to use (cemeteries) as ecological spaces and spaces for reflection,’ Mr Eriksen said.
“But it is with caution to ensure we maintain respectful and reflective spaces.”
A Victorian government spokesman said cemetery trusts were responsible for running and maintaining the state’s cemeteries, but all would be reviewed before the regulations expire in 2025.
Sydney start-up Inviropod wants state and federal governments to support innovative and eco-friendly burial options to combat sustainability issues in the industry.
Founder Bassam Alameddine describes the company’s invention as the world’s first box-like device that prevents graves from being flooded, allowing bodies to decompose more quickly.
It is also intended to prevent bodily fluids from entering surface water and polluting waterways.
Sydney-based Inviropod founder Bassam Alameddine (right, pictured with commercial developer director Shereef Metwall at Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney) wants governments to support innovative and eco-friendly burial options to combat sustainability issues
A single grave could initially hold three people buried in separate pods, and sensory technology would indicate when all the bodies had decomposed.
The remains then go into the lower Inviropod – a single ‘bone bank’ – before another two bodies are buried on top and the decomposition process begins again.
In theory, the technology could enable unlimited burial reuse. The company is seeking approximately $1.5 million in funding to get its product off the ground and into production.
“(The federal government has) grants for every other subject possible, aside from death care … while spending millions of dollars annually on maintenance costs in cemeteries that can no longer be used,” Mr. Alameddine said.