This guide is designed to help you find and choose a funeral director in Adelaide.
We understand. It’s a daunting task. At one of the worst 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 independent funeral home comparison website. Each month we have over 8,000 visitors searching for funeral services on our website, and we have itemised pricing information and reviews for over 60 funeral directors in Greater Adelaide.
Comparing funeral directors in Adelaide is easy:
Alternatively, you can go directly to our dedicated search page for Funeral Directors in Adelaide.
Tip: When viewing the comparison results, you can filter your results by selecting “Price (Low)” to see the cheapest funerals in Adelaide, or “Rating” to see the best rated funeral directors in Adelaide.
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 Adelaide so it’s important to do your research and really think about what your main priorities are.
The cheapest funerals in Adelaide start at $1,295 for a no service, no attendance cremation. For more information on cost-effective funerals, read our Guide to Cheap Funerals in Australia.
Compare this to the most expensive cremation in Adelaide which is $9,980, and the most expensive burial which is $9,175. To provide you with more guidance, we’ve set out the average, minimum and maximum prices in Adelaide for direct cremations, single service cremations, simple burials, traditional burials and graveside burials.
| Average Cost of a Funeral in Adelaide | Average |
| Average Cost of a Direct Cremation in Adelaide | $2,824 |
| Average Cost of a Single Service Cremation in Adelaide | $5,350 |
| Average Cost of a Burial in Adelaide | $5,057 |
| Average Cost of a Traditional Burial in Adelaide | $5,643 |
| Average Cost of a Graveside Burial in Adelaide | $4,985 |
| Price Range for a Funeral in Adelaide | Min | Max |
| Price Range for a Direct Cremation in Adelaide | $1,295 | $5,416 |
| Price Range for a Single Service Cremation in Adelaide | $2,975 | $9,980 |
| Price Range for a Burial in Adelaide | $2,700 | $7,464 |
| Price Range for a Traditional Burial in Adelaide | $3,500 | $9,175 |
| Price Range for a Graveside Burial in Adelaide | $2,700 | $7,464 |
(Note: The prices calculated above are based on 242 funeral directors in Greater Adelaide. 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 information 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 Adelaide are:
| 1. Value Cremations | View Website | $1,295 |
| 2. Clarke Family Funerals | View Website | $1,800 |
| 3. The Natural Funeral Company | View Website | $1,800 |
| 4. Sensible Funerals | View Website | $1,875 |
| 5. Personalised Funerals | View Website | $1,900 |
While the idea of a cremation without a service may seem too distant for many families, a growing trend in Adelaide is to pair a no service, no attendance cremation with a memorial service held several days after the cremation. This keeps costs down but also gives family and friends a chance to properly pay their last respects.
Many people choose a funeral home based on the single recommendation of a family member or a friend. And while word-of-mouth referrals are important, the availability of the internet means that families can now access much more information than was previously available.
Funerals are often far and few between and things can change, 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 positive reviews you can find, the more confident you can feel about trusting a funeral director with your loved one.
At the time of publication, the best funeral directors in Adelaide based on customer reviews are:
| 1. Personalised Funerals | View Website | 5 Stars (7 reviews) |
| 2. Signature Funeral Services | View Website | 5 Stars (6 reviews) |
| 3. Ivan Butler Family Funeral Directors | View Website | 5 Stars (5 reviews) |
| 4. The Natural Funeral Company | View Website | 5 Stars (4 reviews) |
| 5. Farrell & O’Neill Funerals | View Website | 5 Stars (3 reviews) |
Price and customer reviews are helpful, but before you make a final decision and meet with your chosen funeral home there are a few more important points to consider.
You might not know it, but a multinational corporation called InvoCare owns 26% of the funeral homes in South Australia. This means that there’s a good chance that a number of the funeral brands you’ve heard of are owned by this corporation.
InvoCare owns the following funeral director brands in Adelaide:
There are a number of other companies that own multiple funeral homes in Adelaide such as Alfred James Funeral Directors but not quite on the same scale as InvoCare.
Choosing between a corporate or family-owned funeral home is a personal question. Corporate funeral homes are often able to charge a premium due to brand recognition and the belief that their services will be of a higher professional quality. On the other hand, family-owned funeral homes may be more variable in quality of service, but are often more connected with the communities they serve and have more freedom to tailor funerals to reflect the wishes of the family (rather than being bound by strict 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 site will show you funeral directors within a 15km radius of your postcode. However, most funeral directors can service a larger area than this, so you might consider casting your net wider and searching suburbs that are further away.
The main regions serviced by funeral directors in Adelaide are:
Beyond this, some Adelaide funeral directors even travel south to the Fleurieu Peninsula and further inland to Gawler for families.
The main things to think about when it comes to a funeral director’s location in Adelaide are: (1) proximity to their storage/chapel facilities if you’re planning on having a viewing; and (2) proximity to the final service venue if you’re having a dual service.
Location of Storage Facilities / Chapel
If you are planning on having 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 much further away. Greater Adelaide is a sizeable area and there are concentrations of mortuary facilities away from the main 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 Adelaide because that’s where the body is being stored, this can be a source of major frustration.
Cemetery, Crematorium and Memorial Park Venues in Adelaide
Finally, if you are planning on a dual service that starts at the funeral home chapel and then moves on to the cemetery or crematorium, you should also consider where the funeral home is in relation to your selected final venue. You don’t want friends and family having to drive overly long distances to reach the cemetery or crematorium for the final committal ceremony.
The main cemeteries, memorial gardens and crematoria in Adelaide 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 Adelaide Cemeteries.
Most of the time the decision is simple as there may be family plots or historical attachments to certain venues, but if you don’t have a set venue, it’s definitely worthwhile visiting a few locations to see the grounds and facilities. For further guidance, see our guide to Finding a Cemetery in Australia and our guide to Adelaide Crematoriums and Cremation Services.
That’s it. We hope you’ve found this guide on finding and choosing a funeral director in Adelaide helpful. If you’ve found a funeral director and would now like help finding a funeral celebrant, see our Adelaide Funeral Celebrants Guide or go directly to our dedicated search page for Funeral Celebrants in Adelaide. And if you have any questions for us, feel free to email us at support@gatheredhere.com.au or leave us a comment below.
See the full picture and make fully informed decisions. Move forward in the certainty that your loved one’s memory will be looked after. Funeral Homes are Gathered Here.