Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2003

A person may apply to the Secretary for an exhumation licence to exhume or remove human remains from any place of interment.

An application for an exhumation licence—

must be in the prescribed form; and

must be lodged with the Secretary at least 7 days before the proposed exhumation or removal; and

must be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

An application for an exhumation licence must also be accompanied by one of the following—

a certificate issued under section 46 of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996;

a copy of an order made by a coroner under section 47 of the Coroners Act 2008 releasing the body of the deceased to a specified person;

if the deceased died in another State or Territory of the Commonwealth or overseas, a document corresponding to a notice under section 37(2) of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996 from the jurisdiction where the deceased died;

if the licence is for a stillborn child—

a notice of still-birth under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996; or

if the still-birth occurred in another State or Territory of the Commonwealth or overseas, a document corresponding to a notice of still-birth under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1996 from the jurisdiction where the still-birth occurred;

a statutory declaration made by the applicant stating that owing to special circumstances, it is not possible to produce the required documents referred to in paragraph (a), (c) or (d).