The New South Wales government has committed to an urgent review of its practice of burying people deemed too poor to afford their own funerals in unmarked communal graves, following revelations by Guardian Australia. The investigation prompted widespread political condemnation and calls for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to act.
Political pressure mounts
Guardian Australia revealed on Tuesday that unmarked, communal graves were being used, in some cases without notifying the families of the deceased. The findings drew criticism from federal Liberal MPs, state Labor ministers, and the Greens.
Independent senator David Pocock urged Albanese to raise the issue at national cabinet and seek a uniform agreement across states and territories to ensure dignified burials and a basic standard of notification to families, friends, and others associated with the deceased. "Being poor in a country as wealthy as Australia should not condemn you to an unmarked communal grave," he said.
NSW Health apologises
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said he had not been previously aware of how the graves were being used by his government. He has tasked his department to explore reforms, including emulating the Victorian model, where individuals are buried with their own plot and marking, a process that costs just $3,000 per funeral.
Park accepted that past failings are "unacceptable" and NSW Health has apologised, acknowledging that it has not always treated those without financial means with the dignity and respect they are entitled to. A NSW Health Pathology spokesperson said: "Families and friends who have lost a loved one face many challenges managing arrangements during a time of grief, and all deceased persons should be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their financial circumstances."
Burials at Rookwood cemetery
The investigation found that Vietnam veterans, rough sleepers, people with gambling addictions and migrants from developing countries have been buried together at Rookwood cemetery in western Sydney, with each plot often holding between four and six unrelated people.
Shadow minister for defence personnel Phillip Thompson described the burials of war veterans as "deeply concerning". "I am disappointed to hear Australian veterans are among those being buried in unmarked mass graves," he said. "These men and women served our nation and deserve dignity, respect in death, regardless of their financial circumstances."
NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson called on the NSW government to urgently examine whether its model for identifying the friends and family of deceased persons had "the people, resources and safeguards" necessary. "Matters of grief, death and human dignity cannot be treated as administrative burdens to be processed at the lowest possible cost," she said.
Reforms and ongoing failings
In at least six cases identified by the Guardian, friends, families, homelessness charities and community leaders had not been informed about the process, denying them a chance to intervene and pay for alternative funeral arrangements, a likely breach of NSW Health policy. The government has signalled greater cooperation with community and charity groups to seek funeral funding, after the Guardian revealed at least 18 people known to homelessness services had been buried in unmarked and communal graves without the sector's knowledge.
Responsibility for the process had been shared between NSW Health and police until 2025. Reforms last year gave NSW Health Pathology responsibility for the process when deaths occurred in the community or in cases before the coroner, replacing police. Park said the changes made since 2025 were significant in establishing a more "person-centred approach to ensure all deceased persons are treated with the respect and compassion they deserve".
Guardian Australia's investigation identified serious failings in burials that occurred this year, after the 2025 reforms, including the case of Peter Giesel, a Sydney man who died in 2024 and was buried in an unmarked communal grave in June without the knowledge of his sister, Nicole, or close friend Elaine Grady. NSW Health said it had updated its policy to require "the provision of a uniform flat grave marker for people who have been buried", but burials have continued to occur without any marker. The operator of Rookwood, Metropolitan Memorial Parks, says the state government has not funded it to provide grave markings.
