Funeral Worker

A funeral worker prepares deceased persons for burial or cremation, arranges and conducts funeral services, and provides support to grieving families in funeral homes or mortuaries. They perform embalming, restoration, and dressing of deceased persons according to religious, cultural, and legal requirements, and liaise with families, religious leaders, and cremation or burial facilities to coordinate all aspects of the funeral process.

Receive and document deceased persons into the facility, recording personal details, cause of death, and next of kin information. Perform embalming procedures including arterial injection, cavity treatment, and preservation fluid application in accordance with state and territory public health rules and workplace health and safety requirements. Restore facial features and body damage using cosmetic and reconstructive techniques to present the deceased respectfully. Dress, groom, and position deceased persons according to family wishes and cultural or religious protocols. Liaise with families to discuss funeral arrangements, service options, and costs, and answer questions about the funeral process. Coordinate with celebrants, religious leaders, or clergy to arrange funeral or memorial services. Arrange transport of deceased persons to and from crematoria, burial sites, or other facilities using suitable vehicles and equipment. Operate and maintain mortuary equipment including refrigeration units, embalming tables, and restorative equipment.

The standard entry pathway requires a Certificate II or III (ABS skill level 4). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

You'll be working with death every day, which means emotional labour, exposure to trauma and infectious disease, and early starts or on-call shifts. The work is physically demanding and repetitive. Funeral homes are small businesses often family-owned, which limits advancement. Embalming work often needs a specific qualification, which takes time and money upfront.

In reality, jobs concentrate in capital cities and larger regional centres where there's enough population to support funeral homes. Remote work is not possible. Employment depends on local funeral home chains and independent funeral directors.

• Active Listeningcore
• Advise on funeral servicescore
• Appointment Schedulingcore
• Attention to Detailcore
• Confidentiality and Privacy Compliancecore
• Cultural Awareness and Sensitivitycore
• Empathy and Emotional Intelligencecore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Professional Boundaries Maintenancecore
• Record Managementcore
• Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Trauma-Informed Communicationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Administer appointments
• Data Entry and Accuracy
• Inclusive Practice
• Invoicing and Billing Administration
• Risk Identification
• Team Collaboration
• Telephone Etiquette
• Workload Self-Management
• Written Communication

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

Last updated: 30 October 2026