Shrouded cremation enters the mainstream

When people start planning a funeral, one of the first considerations is a coffin or casket. But there’s a new option in town. Well, it’s actually a really old option that’s been around for thousands of years, but it’s a relatively new consideration for cremation in mainstream Australia. Even Australia’s largest funeral provider, Invocare, has jumped on board. More on that later.

Shrouds vs coffins

The new/old option is shrouds. You or your loved one is simply wrapped in material instead of being put into a box. The material and style can be as fancy or basic as you choose.

Shrouds have been around for years. While they tended to be a religious preference in the past, they’re now available to all. According to the Natural Death Advocacy Network, “In many cultures, shrouds play a significant role in ritual and ceremony. In Jewish traditions, shrouds may be hand-stitched robes made of simple white cloth, or in Orthodox Judaism, a tunic, pants, and a belt adorned with sacred symbols. In Muslim tradition, a white cloth or natural fabric like unbleached calico is commonly used. The Bahá’í faith wraps the deceased in five pieces of pure white silk as their chosen method of shrouding.”

The above religious uses of shrouds have been for burial. But now, shrouded cremations are becoming more widely available, especially now that Australia’s deathcare behemoth, Invocare, is allowing them at its cremation facilities in Queensland and New South Wales.

Shrouded burials were not uncommon in Australia’s pioneer days.

There’s a grave I visit regularly in the Drayton& Toowoomba Cemetery on my cemetery tours. Stockman John Hills died during the frontier wars in 1841, in the conflict between the local indigenous communities and early white settlers.

Fellow stationhand Christopher Gorry said,

“In those days there were no coffins at hand, so we made a shroud of his blanket, and buried his body in a sheet of bark, in a little flat near the garden on the bank of the creek”.

Modern shroud roadblocks

Despite the use of shrouds being permitted in states including Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales, and Queensland for several years, a lack of regulatory oversight meant that few knew about it being a legal option for cremation, and the tricky bit was finding funeral directors and crematoria operators willing and able to facilitate it.

In big news to the funeral sector, Invocare, the largest provider of funerals in Australia, is now allowing shroud cremations at its crematoria in New South Wales and Queensland. There are about 20 sites. This marks a significant shift in the economic thinking of Australia’s funeral behemoth. However, there’s an interesting twist.

InvoCare’s shrouded cremation offering

InvoCare operates a heap of well-known brand names: White Lady Funerals, Simplicity Funerals, Value Cremations, and about 35 or so other brands across the country. The company declined to answer my questions about its shrouded cremations offering, but I do know that InvoCare’s own funeral homes will not be actively promoting shrouded cremations to its funeral clients. It’s going to stick with coffins and caskets.

That shrouded cremation option is being reserved for non-InvoCare funeral providers who pay a fee to use InvoCare’s cremators. This reluctance makes understandable business sense: coffins and caskets are big income earners. When a wholesale coffin costing $400 can easily retail for $3,000 or more (with even higher margins on high-end, solid timber caskets), you can see why a business wouldn’t want to willingly slice into its own profit margins.

The moral of the story? If you’re planning a funeral with an InvoCare brand in NSW or Queensland and want a shrouded cremation, you’ll have to ask for it. And like I always say, if your chosen funeral director won’t or can’t fulfill your wishes, find one that will.

Funeral director Annie’s experience

Annie Caulfield, an independent funeral director in Brisbane, recently facilitated the first shrouded cremation through Invocare’s Albany Creek Memorial Park.

“I phoned Albany Creek Memorial Park, and their initial answer was, ‘No, we don’t allow that here.’ I followed up with the question of ‘Why is that?’

“My request was passed on to management, and after a lot of back and forth, they agreed to allow it,” Annie says.

“They were really keen to make it happen.”

“There were requirements that needed to be met, which we worked through together. Things like the shroud bearer had to be a certain height at the ends, for the cremator to be able to push it into the cremator safely, and it had to be completely flat on the bottom, so it didn’t catch on anything as it went in.”

The realities of being cremated without a coffin

Jordan Pritchard operates the crematorium for the Geelong Cemeteries Trust.  He estimates that he’s overseen about 20,000 cremations in his time. He’s also a board member of the Cemeteries and Crematoria Association of Victoria.

Victoria has been facilitating shroud cremations for years, though many Victorians still don’t know it’s an option because not all funeral directors offer them as a service.

“Shrouds are mainly used for Hindu and Buddhist cremations. We also used to get a lot of shrouds through for environmental reasons until people started getting cremated in cardboard coffins. Most people think that’s a better option for them environmentally,” Jordan says.

As a result, he says the number of shrouded cremations through Geelong Cemeteries Trust’s crematorium is on the decline.

Shroud bearers

From a practical crematorium standpoint, managing a shrouded body requires specific adaptations to ensure dignity, safety, and operational efficiency. Unlike rigid timber or cardboard coffins, a shroud lacks structural integrity. Consequently, crematorium operators require a shroud bearer (or burial board), preferably made from a natural timber.

“I would prefer if everything were just on a nice pine board,” says Jordan Pritchard.

“We ask for them to come on a baseboard. If they can’t supply it, we’ll build one ourselves. Most of ours come from regular clientele (funeral directors), so they understand the requirements.

“We ask for a 100 mm board around the sides. Our loaders are automatic, and there needs to be something that we can push into the cremator without touching the shrouded body,” he says.

For transport and the funeral service, directors often use what’s called a transfer coffin. It’s got sides and a lid that lift off as a single piece, leaving the shrouded body resting cleanly on its timber baseboard. The transfer coffin can then be reused, reducing material waste and lowering costs for families.

Staff welfare

Perhaps the most profound shift when moving from coffin-based cremations to shrouded cremations is psychological. Operators are no longer handling a clinical, geometric box; they are handling the unmistakable, organic shape of a human being.

“I’ll never forget my first shroud,” Jordan says. “I was about four months in, and the shrouded man was lying there with his hand hanging outside of the shroud.

“The family had been grabbing his hand at the service prior and shaking it one last time. That sort of thing is not ideal for the operator, but it is something to be wary of,” he says.

At Geelong Cemeteries Trust, pre-and post-cremation staff check-ins are a must.

Before a shrouded cremation takes place, management briefs the team on the deceased’s name, age, and background. This allows staff members who might be experiencing personal grief or trauma outside of work (such as losing a relative of a similar age) to step away if necessary.

“We also have an employee assistance program. If someone is struggling, and it might not be for a day or two later, we’ll recommend they go and talk to someone,” says Jordan.

Too far from the norm

Carly Dalton from Greenhaven Funerals in Melbourne agrees that shrouding can be confrontational.

“Many of our clients love the idea of being kinder to the earth and leaving a lighter footprint but the idea of being shrouded and placed on a simple bearer tray is something many individuals cannot get their mind around.

“They are worried that when they see the shape of a body wrapped in material on a simple bearer like a tray structure, it will be too much,” says Carly.

Choice welcomed

Ben Kelly, CEO of the Australasian Cemeteries and Crematoria Association, is pleased to see more operators offering shrouded cremations.

“I don’t think it’s going to replace the standard cremation. It’s nice as an industry, as a profession, we are adapting and helping people, whatever their needs are.”

Shrouding the dead: in their words.

Several independent deathcare workers have shared their experiences with using material shrouds instead of coffins and caskets with me. You can read more about their personal perspectives in my blog: Shrouding the dead: in their own words. Read that HERE.