Cremation and the medical practitioner

Ferson, Mark J; Johnson, Reannon; Cains, Toni

doi:10.5694/mja2.51824

Topics

To the Editor: A recent survey found that 65% of Australians choose cremation over burial, and that, in the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, cremations could be increased fourfold.1 It seems appropriate to look at the various roles of the medical practitioner in approving cremations.

1 University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
2 South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW

Correspondence: m.ferson@unsw.edu.au

Competing interests:

The NSW Ministry of Health provides annual funding of $28 000 to the Public Health Unit, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, to support the costs of administration of the appointment of medical referees in New South Wales on behalf of the Secretary of the NSW Ministry of Health.

1. Australasian Cemeteries and Crematoria Association. National Cremation Capacity Survey 2020. Melbourne: ACCA, 2020. https://accaweb.com.au/images/easyblog_articles/45/CREMATION‐CAPACITY‐SURVEY‐2020_14Oct2020.pdf (viewed July 2022).
2. Armstrong WG. Cremation. Med J Aust 1917; 2: 70‐72.
3. Cooke S. Death, body and soul: the cremation debate in New South Wales, 1863–1925. Aust Hist Stud 1991; 24: 323‐339.
4. Regulation of cremation. Sydney Morning Herald 1903, 3 Apr; p 5. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14555378?searchTerm=Regulation%20of%20cremation (accessed November 2022)

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.