Fair Funeral Promise

What is the Fair Funeral Promise?

The FuneralSmart Fair Funeral Promise is our commitment to providing families with an ethical, transparent, and supportive approach to funeral planning. This promise ensures:

• Fair Pricing: Access to affordable funeral services without hidden costs or unnecessary upselling.

• Transparency: Clear and upfront information about funeral options, prices, and services to help families make informed decisions.

• Fair Funeral Home Partners: Partnerships with reputable and compassionate funeral directors who adhere to the highest standards of care.

• Empowerment: Tools and resources that give families control over their choices, ensuring their loved one’s farewell aligns with their wishes and budget.

What is a Fair Funeral Home Partner?

Our Funeral Home Partners all deliver person-centred, flexible funeral care within their local communities and work hard to give people the style and tone of support that works best for them.  Their focus is on supporting you to create a funeral which is helpful to you and your friends and family – this may be a traditional funeral, or include more modern and contemporary choices.

What does the Fair Funeral Promise do?

This initiative helps tackle the underlying causes of rising funeral prices in Australia. We do this in three ways.

1. Educate people about their choices so they can get a fair funeral.
2. Support fair, open and transparent funeral pricing for Australian consumers.
3. Work with the Independent Funeral Directors to make funerals more personal, affordable and community driven.

Why we’re calling for Fair Funerals

It’s very important that bereaved people are not exploited at their time of grief. But having to navigate the industry and speak to different funeral companies can be very daunting at a time when we are emotionally and financially vulnerable. Being able to get fair, open and transparent prices before speaking with a funeral director allows customers to consider all their options without the pressure of a sales focussed environment. That’s why we only support Independent Funeral Home Partners and not funeral brands owned by the big corporate brands and public listed companies.

What are the components of Fair Funeral?

People will often be coming to a funeral home feeling confused and disoriented, so it’s very important your information is clear and accessible. Here are some principles of fair, open and transparent pricing to bear in mind when putting prices online:

Honesty and Value

We understand that cost is important, but quality matters more. The cheapest option often means corners are cut, leaving you with less than your loved one deserves. That’s why our Funeral Home Partners focus on delivering affordable services without compromising care. We balance affordability with exceptional service, ensuring every detail is handled with the respect and care your family deserves.

Include third party costs/ disbursements

These can represent around half of the overall bill and most people don’t know that a figure quoted without third party costs isn’t the overall figure.

Use plain english

Some of the language surrounding funerals is confusing to the public. Try to use language people understand, for instance ‘third party costs’ is more straightforward than ‘disbursements’.

Accessibility

Some funeral directors display price lists but they’re very difficult to find on their websites. Make prices prominent and accessible.

No information overload

Whilst services and prices can get quite complicated, websites should have a clear, uncluttered design and format.

Make the most affordable options visible

Affordable options should be made prominent.

Break down costs

Costs should be itemised, or if packages are offered, it should be clear what this includes/ doesn’t include.