The order of this guide
Five pages, each answering one question in its opening lines and then going into the detail, drawn from the official pages listed at the foot of each one.
- Compassionate leave after a deathpage 2Two days each time, paid or unpaid, and what an employer can ask for.
- Services Australia after a deathpage 3The payments for a partner, a carer or an estate, and what it needs to hear.
- When a veteran diespage 4DVA’s bereavement payments, its forms and time limits, and Open Arms.
- Grief, and where support startspage 5What grief can do, when to see a doctor, and helping a child or teenager.
- Planning the servicepage 6Funeral or memorial, faith and culture, and children on the day.
Dates worth keeping
A few things after a death carry a date or a fixed allowance. These are the ones the official pages set out for the people left.
| When | What | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| 2 days each time | Compassionate leave when a member of the employee’s immediate family or household dies, casuals included | Fair Work Ombudsman |
| Within 28 days | Telling Services Australia of the death, if the person was getting a payment | Services Australia |
| Within 14 days | Telling Services Australia of changes to income and assets, for anyone getting a payment | Services Australia |
| Within 13 weeks | Asking for a review of a decision to stop an Age Pension, counted from being told of it | Services Australia |
| Up to 26 weeks after the death | Claiming a Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment | Services Australia |
| Within 12 months of the death | Applying for DVA’s bereavement payment for a single veteran | Department of Veterans’ Affairs |
Each date has conditions attached, set out on the page that covers it.
If someone needs to talk now
- Lifeline
- 13 11 14 , at any hour of the day or night.
- Griefline
- 1300 845 745 , free telephone support for anyone who is grieving.
If someone is having suicidal thoughts and is in immediate danger, healthdirect says to call triple zero (000) .
More lines, including ones for children and for veterans’ families, are on the grief support page.
About this guide
Funeral Arrangements is general information, written for anyone who has found themselves arranging a funeral for a parent, a partner, a friend or a child. It describes the rules and the help that exist; each person’s own situation is for the agency or adviser concerned. Its sources are the Fair Work Ombudsman, Services Australia, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, healthdirect, state governments, the Raising Children Network and the helplines’ own pages, each listed at the foot of the page that uses it.
Each page opens with the short answer, then gives the conditions, the forms and the time limits. Where a rule belongs to one state, the page names that state; the rest are national. The people who can speak to a particular case are named as they come up: an award or agreement and the Fair Work Ombudsman for leave, Services Australia and DVA for their payments, and a GP for grief.
These pages do not cover choosing a funeral director, what a funeral costs or who pays for it.