The Government's Review of Burial and Cremation Legislation and Processes is Happening Right Now

Now is the time to push for an end to the funeral industry’s stranglehold on the funeral process. The Government is currently reviewing the law and processes around burial and cremation. It's a rare opportunity - the last review was in 1964 - almost 60 years ago.

As luck would have it, the law around probate (proving a will) is also being reviewed - as a separate exercise by the Law Commission.

Never forget though, the key change required to turn around the problem of funeral debt - ensuring families have the pre-disposal paperwork done for them by doctors or nurses - doesn't need a law change to happen. It could be done next week.

The current review began in 2010 with the Law Commission. The Law Commission delivered their report to the John Key Government in 2015.

The John Key Government passed the Review on to the Ministry of Health in 2016. The John Key Government was unconvinced about the need for regulation of the funeral industry.

In 2019, the MoH, too, did not favour regulation. That may have changed since the public submission process.

While the MoH did at least float the idea of regulation of the industry, they, like the Law Commission before them, failed to ask why the public are so dependent on funeral directors in the first place. (The answer, of course, is that the funeral industry has an effective monopoly on the paperwork process). Logically, this question should have preceded any work on regulation of the funeral industry.

Probate is also being reviewed now. Once again, we urge the government to watch for expert myopia and ensure ensure common sense prevails.

The MoH has been alerted, through the media and directly by the public, to a seriously dysfunctional system. They could have fixed the problem. They have done nothing.

The MoH’s Review of burial and cremation legislation and processes is also falling short of the standards the public have a right to expect. As a result it is on track to deliver sub-standard legislation to the Government.

Under the current system, the public have, effectively, no option but to engage funeral directors to complete paperwork requirements. This is resulting in disturbing levels of debt.

Funeral debt is a major cause of poverty and a huge issue for the Salvation Army, Community Law and other overstretched community agencies. Funeral debt forces families to go without basics, e.g. lunches, medical care and transport.

According to Stats NZ’s Household Economic Survey for the year ended June 2019, more than one-third of Maori households (37%, or 88,000 Maori households) and nearly half of Pasifika households (47%, or 36,000 Pasifika households) would not be able to pay $1,500 as an unexpected expense, let alone a full funeral and associated costs in the region of $10,000. The corresponding figure for non-Maori non-Pasifika households is 16%. Given that Maori households are clearly disproportionately affected, there are also clear Treaty implications.

With a captive market, funeral directors can, and do, charge up to and over $2000 for basic paperwork. Furthermore, the paperwork transaction traps the public in the funeral industry’s business model, leading to further indebtedness.

The key to turning around the problem of funeral debt is ensuring doctors (or nurses) complete pre-disposal paperwork. This process has been trialed by doctors, it works and it takes just minutes. Doctors and nurses must be directed to provide proper duty of care towards family after someone dies. This issue must also be included in the review.

This extension to duty of care is long overdue and would bring after-death care into line with the Health and Disability Code, which also needs to be updated to specifically include after-death family care. By right, ordinary people should be able to negotiate the pre-cremation and burial paperwork requirements without being forced into a dependency on the private business sector.