This guide is designed to help you find and choose a funeral director in Melbourne.
It’s incredibly difficult. At one of the hardest times in our lives, we’re required to answer some extremely difficult questions about which funeral director to trust, what type of service to arrange and how much to spend.
This guide is broken down into 3 parts:
Gathered Here is a free and 100% independent funeral home comparison website. Each month we have over 8,000 visitors searching for funeral services on our site, and display itemised pricing information and reviews for over 160 funeral directors in the Greater Melbourne area.
Comparing funeral directors in Melbourne is simple:
Alternatively, you can go directly to our dedicated search page for Funeral Directors in Melbourne.
Tip: When viewing the comparison results, you can filter your results by selecting “Price (Low)” to see the cheapest funerals in Melbourne, or “Rating” to see the best rated funeral directors in Melbourne.
Two key considerations for families when comparing funeral directors are price and customer reviews. There are significant differences in price and service levels offered by funeral directors in Melbourne so it’s important to do your research and really think about what your main priorities are.
The cheapest funerals in Melbourne start at $1,495 for a no service, no attendance cremation. For more information on low-cost funerals, read our Guide to Cheap Funerals in Australia.
Compare this to the most expensive cremation in Melbourne which is $10,100, and the most expensive burial which is $9,530. To provide you with more guidance, we’ve set out the average, minimum and maximum prices in Melbourne for direct cremations, single service cremations, simple burials, traditional burials and graveside burials.
| Average Cost of a Funeral in Melbourne | Average |
| Average Cost of a Direct Cremation in Melbourne | $3,438 |
| Average Cost of a Single Service Cremation in Melbourne | $6,189 |
| Average Cost of a Burial in Melbourne | $5,549 |
| Average Cost of a Traditional Burial in Melbourne | $5,969 |
| Average Cost of a Graveside Burial in Melbourne | $5,515 |
| Price Range for a Funeral in Melbourne | Min | Max |
| Price Range for a Direct Cremation in Melbourne | $1,495 | $6,033 |
| Price Range for a Single Service Cremation in Melbourne | $2,950 | $10,100 |
| Price Range for a Burial in Melbourne | $2,495 | $9,530 |
| Price Range for a Traditional Burial in Melbourne | $3,490 | $9,530 |
| Price Range for a Graveside Burial in Melbourne | $2,495 | $9,530 |
(Note: The prices calculated above are based on 242 funeral directors in Greater Melbourne. The prices include the cost of the coffin, transfer fee, celebrant, mortuary care, venue hire and death certificate (and in the case of cremations, the cremation fee, cremation certificate and urn). Additional costs to consider include funeral flowers, newspaper notices, headstone and cemetery fees.)
For more guidance on funeral costs you can see our articles on Understanding Funeral Costs, the Average Cost of a Cremation and the Average Cost of a Burial.
At the time of publication, for an all inclusive direct cremation, the cheapest funeral directors in Melbourne are:
| 1. Value Cremations | View Website | $1,495 |
| 2. ABC Cremations | View Website | $1,499 |
| 3. The Essential Cremation Co. | View Website | $1,589 |
| 4. Cheap Cremations Melbourne | View Website | $1,600 |
| 5. Fixed Price Cremations | View Website | $1,695 |
While the idea of a cremation without a service may seem too distant for many families, a growing trend in Melbourne is to combine a no service, no attendance cremation with a memorial service held a few days after the cremation. This keeps costs down but also gives family and friends a chance to properly pay their last respects.
When it comes to picking a funeral director, a lot of people rely on the single recommendation of a close friend or family member. And while personal referrals are important, the availability of the internet means that families can now access much more information than was previously available.
Funerals are infrequent events and things can change with time, so it’s definitely a good idea to look at more recent reviews (which you can do on our website) even if you do have a personal recommendation. The more 5-star reviews you can find, the more comfortable you can feel about trusting a funeral director with your family member.
At the time of publication, the best funeral directors in Melbourne based on customer reviews are:
| 1. Julie Harwood Funerals | View Website | 5 Stars (19 reviews) |
| 2. Gardenia Funerals | View Website | 5 Stars (10 reviews) |
| 3. Templeton Family Funerals | View Website | 5 Stars (9 reviews) |
| 4. Candlepines Undertakers of Distinction | View Website | 5 Stars (9 reviews) |
| 5. ABC Cremations | View Website | 5 Stars (7 reviews) |
Price and reviews from customers are helpful, but before you make a final decision and meet with your chosen funeral home there are a few more key issues to consider.
You might not know it, but a publicly listed corporation called InvoCare owns 30% of the funeral homes in Victoria. That means there’s a good chance that most of the funeral brands you know are owned by the same company.
InvoCare owns the following funeral director brands in Melbourne:
While not as large, other major funeral companies in Melbourne include:
Choosing between a corporate or family-owned funeral home is a personal question. Corporate funeral homes are often more expensive due to brand recognition and the belief that their services will be of a higher quality. On the other hand, family-owned funeral homes may be slightly more variable in terms of quality of service, but are often more connected with the communities they serve and have more freedom to customise funerals to reflect the desires of the family (rather than being restricted by fixed package options).
There’s no right or wrong answer here. For a full discussion, you can see our Guide to the InvoCare Brands.
By default, our comparison results will display funeral directors within a 15km radius of your suburb. However, most funeral directors can service a larger area than this, so if you’d like to see more options you can search suburbs that are further away from your immediate location.
The main regions serviced by funeral directors in Melbourne are:
Beyond this, some Melbourne funeral directors even travel to Geelong and further inland for their families.
The main things to think about when it comes to a funeral director’s location in Melbourne are: (1) proximity to their chapel/storage facilities if you want a viewing; and (2) proximity to the final service venue if you would like to have a dual service.
Location of Storage Facilities / Chapel
If you want a viewing, it’s important to ask the funeral director where they can hold the viewing. Some funeral directors might have an office location that is close to you, but their chapel and/or storage facility might be in a completely different area. Greater Melbourne is a large area and there are concentrations of mortuary facilities further out from the inner suburbs.
If you have a large family which plans to visit the deceased only to later find out the viewing can only happen in a different region of Melbourne because that’s where the body is being stored, this can be a frustrating experience.
Cemetery, Crematorium and Memorial Park Venues in Melbourne
Lastly, if you would like to have a dual service that starts at the funeral home chapel and then moves on to the crematorium or graveside, you should also think about where the funeral home is in relation to your desired final venue. You don’t want friends and family having to drive long distances to reach the cemetery or crematorium for the final committal ceremony.
The main cemeteries, memorial gardens and crematoria in Melbourne are:
You can read more about these cemeteries, including the burial and cremation memorial options they offer, and their on-site facilities, in our Complete Guide to Melbourne Cemeteries.
Often the venue decision is straightforward for families as they may already have a family plot purchased, but if you don’t have a set venue it’s definitely worthwhile to visit a few locations to see what they have to offer. For further guidance, see our guide to Finding a Cemetery in Australia and our guide to Melbourne Crematoriums and Cremation Services.
That’s it. We hope you’ve found this guide on finding and selecting a funeral director in Melbourne helpful. If you’ve found a funeral director and would now like help finding a funeral celebrant, see our Melbourne Funeral Celebrants Guide or go directly to our dedicated search page for Funeral Celebrants in Melbourne. And if you have any questions for us, feel free to email us at support@gatheredhere.com.au or leave us a comment below.
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