On July 1, the Shepparton Public Cemetery increased its prices significantly, with child and Muslim burials the most affected.
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A member of the public reached out to The News recently, pointing out the “ridiculous” price increase, so we did some digging.
Starting July 1, the cost of sinking a child’s grave, from stillborn to 10 years old, increased by 275 per cent, from $295 to $1106.
For general plots it’s a 500 per cent increase, going from a total of $565, including the plot and interment fees to $3391 in total.
Burying a child in the Shepparton Public Cemetery general section now costs $2100 for the right of interment, $1106 for grave sinking, and a $185 admin fee, totalling at least $3391.
The same burial last month would have cost $565, which includes a general grave plot and the burial.
That is a 500 per cent increase.
For lawn plots it’s a 75 per cent increase, going from $2885, including the plot and interment fees to $5091 in total now.
This excludes any admin fees such as weekend burials, late arrivals, short notice or burials outside standard operating hours, which can cost between $115 to $715.
Another group that saw a spike in cost outside the expected increase of three to four per cent was Muslim burials, which cost 160 per cent more, going from $1450 to $3779.
All adult and child burial plots now cost the same.
Plots also cost the same if bought when they are needed or in advance.
Other price hikes were adult grave sinking, which increased by 40.5 per cent, now costing $1877, and lawn graves ‘at need’ as well as lawn graves ‘pre-need’ for both children and adults now costing $3800, increases of 31 and 24 per cent respectively.
The trust also introduced new admin fees, including interment fees and late fees.
Rick Hall has been the sole director for almost 30 years at Kittle Bros Funeral Directors in Shepparton and said he had never seen price increases of this scale.
“No other cemetery charges late fees and they (Shepparton Public Cemetery Trust) didn’t this time last month even, but now they do,” Mr Hall said.
“There’s never been an increase like this, it’s always followed CPI.”
He also said that it wasn’t a decision funeral homes or families knew about until the invoices started rolling in.
“As far as I’m concerned, the Shepparton Cemetery is owned by the people of Shepparton,” Mr Hall said.
“There was no consultation with anybody, no consultation with us and it just hit us after we’ve already quoted funerals.”
The price increases meant Mr Hall had to make a decision on prepaid funerals — and not one he liked.
“My concerns are that the cemetery should be run for the people of Shepparton who own it,” he said.
“These price rises are just far too much.
“My understanding was it went up with the CPI (Consumer Price Index), which is three or four per cent, and now we’ve got a big difficulty with any prepaid funerals.
“We’re actually going to lose money on them.
“We’ve always been able to guarantee prepaid funerals and it’s always worked because things just went up with CPI and interest rates followed.
“We’re in the throes. We won’t do prepaid funerals any more.
“It’s just too dangerous, and it’s cemeteries that have gone up the most in price.
“It’s not just Shepparton (Public Cemetery), others have, but nothing like this.”
A lawn grave and burial at Mooroopna Cemetery costs a total of $2755 and at Pine Lodge the figure is $3910, with Shepparton Public Cemetery costing a total of $5884.
The News reached out to the trust asking to chat to someone about the price increase.
It had not provided a comment at the time of writing.
The News also contacted the Victorian Department of Health asking about the price increase.
“Cemetery trusts are self-funding statutory bodies and have the power to apply to change their fees and charges when they determine it’s necessary,” a department spokesperson said.
“They can set fees and charges to earn enough revenue to meet their maintenance obligations.
“However, they must make a formal application to the Department of Health for consent to alter these costs, and there is a clear process in place to ensure pricing is equitable and efficient.”
The News asked specifically about the increase in child burial costs, Muslim burial costs and the introduction and increasing of administration fees.
The spokesperson did not respond to these questions directly.
Cadet Journalist