Multicultural funeral traditions in Australia

Written by Janet Stone for Australian Seniors

The funeral noticeboard in your local newspaper tells a story of modern Australia: a celebration of life at the beach, a Greek Orthodox service with open viewing, a Buddhist ceremony focused on rebirth, and a livestreamed farewell for family overseas. In today’s society, there’s no single way to say goodbye.

According to the last census, Christianity remains Australia’s largest religion (44%), but 39% now say they have no religion at all. The other biggest religions are Islam (3.2%), Hinduism (2.7%) and Buddhism (2.4%).

Migration has played a big role in shaping our spiritual mix. Christianity arrived with the British, and in the 1940s and 50s post‑war migrants from Europe brought their own faith traditions. Later arrivals from Asia, Africa and the Middle East have added even more diversity, and with them distinctive mourning rituals.

Greek Orthodox funeral traditions

The Greek Orthodox Church, for example, is steeped in traditional customs around funerals and mourning, which many uphold to this day, explains Dr Georgia Rowley, researcher at Adelaide University and third-generation Greek-Australian.

“I would say that compared to an Anglo-Australian funeral experience, a Greek funeral can appear quite intense in terms of public and open displays of grieving,” says Dr Rowley. “It’s not uncommon for loved ones to be wailing or to be quite vocal about the loss of the person.”

It’s also a Greek Orthodox tradition to view the body of the deceased in an open casket in the period between death and the funeral, or at the funeral itself.

Dr Rowley explains, “It’s common to view the body privately before the funeral, and it’s not uncommon for people to touch the body, the hair, kiss the face, hold the hands of the deceased, which is quite confronting for a lot of people,” she adds.

Buddhist funeral traditions and rebirth

Another faith with quite different customs around mourning is Buddhism. Death is not meant to be scary, or the end, as all Buddhists (except for secular Buddhists), believe in rebirth, explains Venerable Dr Juewei, director of Nan Tien Institute’s Humanistic Buddhism Centre. “Different traditions of Buddhism may have different ways of commemorating one’s life and the passage from this life, of which there are many,” she says.

“Death basically means the end of the form that we are born into. Whatever other form that we take next depends on our intention, and what we call our karma, or what good deeds this person has done this lifetime and previous lifetimes.”

The idea is to let go of this body and move on to the next life, she explains. “So whether it’s cremation, or burial, or even a sky burial or feeding the fishes in the oceans. That’s all acceptable.”

Growing funeral trends in Australia

Other modern-day funerals have moved towards celebrations of life rather than mourning a loss. The Cost of Death 2.0 Report from Australian Seniors finds that 52% of over 50s want their funeral to focus more on celebrating life than mourning. That might mean wearing bright colours instead of black and incorporating music, with services and wakes being held away from churches or crematoriums in more relaxed settings, such as the beach or pub.

Technology has further reshaped the way we farewell our loved ones. Livestreamed funerals now mean family and friends living overseas can watch a service in real-time without the cost of travel.

QR codes are making an appearance on service programs and memorial plaques, linking mourners to online tribute pages where they can post messages, share memories and upload photos, creating a living, digital memorial that friends and family can revisit any time.

Meanwhile, for those wanting a gentler environmental footprint, eco‑friendly burials are becoming increasingly popular. Families can choose biodegradable coffins with some opting for memorial trees instead of headstones, turning a final resting place into a living tribute. Keepsakes continue to take on new forms, with ashes being transformed into jewellery, vinyl records, tattoos, artificial coral reefs, even pottery and ceramics, to keep that connection close, long after the formal farewells have ended.

Learn more: If you’d like to know more about the latest funeral trends, check out this article on the future of funerals.