Below is Chapter 1 of our ‘What to do when someone dies’ booklet. To read the other chapters of our booklet, click the links below:
- Chapter 2 – What to do within days
- Chapter 3 – What to do within weeks
- Chapter 4 – What to do within months
- Chapter 5 – Further information
Confirmation of death and signed doctors certificate
Death at home
Phone a doctor
If someone dies at home, you will need to contact their doctor to have the death confirmed and a Cause of Death Certificate signed.
A Cause of Death Certificate is the official registration of death. It is signed by the doctor who pronounces the death, and is then lodged with the relevant State or Territory Government office. You cannot make funeral arrangements without a signed Cause of Death Certificate.
Phone the police
If the death is a reportable death, you must call the police or the coroner. A ’reportable death’ includes:
- A death by unexpected, unnatural, unusual, violent or unknown cause; or
- A death that occurs during, as a result of, or within 24 hours, of surgery, an invasive medical procedure or the administration
of an anaesthetic for those purposes; or - A death that occurs at a place other than a hospital but within 24 hours of the person having been discharged from a hospital after being a patient or the person having sought emergency treatment at a hospital.
There are penalties if you do not report a reportable death, which may include a fine or imprisonment.
You must comply with any directions that the police give to you and provide them with any information relating to the death.
In certain circumstances, a coronial investigation may be required. In particular, a coronial investigation will usually be required if:
- The death is caused by a violent, unusual or unknown cause; or
- The death is caused by a fire or similar accident.
The police will let you know if this is the case, and the deceased will be transferred to the Coroner.
If you are in any doubt as to whether the death is a reportable death, or may result in a coronial investigation, then call the police and let them know what has happened.
Phone a funeral home
If the police give clearance for the deceased to be transferred to a funeral home, you will need to contact your preferred funeral home to arrange the transfer of the deceased. This can be delayed for a little while if you would like some private time.
Death in hospital
If the deceased has died in a hospital, the hospital staff will take care of the confirmation of death and will organise the Death Certificate.
Phone a funeral home
The deceased’s body will remain at the hospital until you have arranged a funeral director and you have given them permission to move the body to a funeral home (or other location).
Organ donation
If the deceased had signed up with the Australian Organ Donor Register to be an organ/tissue donor, the suitability of their organs or tissues for donation must be assessed quickly. You can obtain more information from the Australian Organ Donor Register website.
You can register by filling out the form on the Medicare Australia website.
You must be 16 or older to register.
The Australian Organ Donor Register is the only register for organ and/or tissue donation for transplantation after death. Even if you have already recorded your donation wishes somewhere else, for example, by ticking a box on a driver’s licence renewal, it is important you update your details by registering your decision on the Australian Organ Donor Register. The Australian Organ Donor Register is not for recording decisions about donating organs and/or tissue for scientific research.
Despite registering on the Australian Organ Donor Register, family consent is still needed before donation can go ahead, so remember to discuss your decision with your family and those close to you.
Organ donations can take place when the deceased has suffered brain death in a hospital’s Intensive Care Unit while on a ventilator, as this keeps the blood flowing to their organs (meaning that their organs do not get damaged by lack of oxygen).
Before organ donation after death can occur, two senior doctors must separately test the deceased for brain death and the deceased’s family’s consent must also be obtained.
Corneas can be donated within 12 hours of brain death and other tissues (including organs) within 24 hours.
Organs can only be removed following cardiac death in very specific circumstances. You will be told if the deceased’s organs are suitable for donation following cardiac death.
A coronial investigation does not usually prevent a person from being a donor. In these cases, an organ donor coordinator contacts the Coroner to seek permission for donation to proceed.
Discuss your decision with those close to you and register with the Australian Organ Donor Register.
Selecting a funeral home
In the hours after the deceased has died you will need to select a funeral director and start thinking about funeral and burial arrangements.
You should locate the deceased’s Will (if any), or other ’letter of wishes’, so that you can find out if they had any special preferences regarding their funeral arrangements and the disposal of their body.
Burial or cremation arrangements should be discussed with a funeral director as soon as possible so that they can prepare the deceased’s body appropriately.
The deceased may have a pre-paid funeral or a funeral bond to cover expenses. This may also help you to select which funeral home to use. It may be that the pre-paid funeral or funeral bond is linked to a particular service provider.
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The information contained in this post is current at the date of publishing – 20 March 2024.
