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This Act may be cited as the Cemeteries Act 1986.
This Act shall come into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation.
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears —
alleged offender means a person to whom an infringement notice has been given under section 63;
authorised person means a person —
authorised under section 64 to give infringement notices; or
appointed under the Local Government Act 1995 section 9.10(2) for the purposes of section 63;
Board means a cemetery board established under section 7 or deemed to have been established under this Act and in relation to a cemetery means the Board responsible for the care, control and management of that cemetery;
burial, except in the definition of funeral and in sections 11, 12 and 43(2), includes the disposal of ashes of a dead body in a cemetery after cremation;
cemetery means land declared by the Governor to be a cemetery under section 4(1) or deemed to be a cemetery under this Act and so far as the context allows includes a disused burial ground and a closed cemetery;
dead body means the body of a human being who was born alive and also means the body of a child of not less than 28 weeks’ gestation that was still born;
funeral means the burial or cremation of a dead body;
holder in relation to a grant of right of burial includes a person for the time being appearing to the Board to be the holder of that grant;
infringement notice means a notice given under section 63;
licence means a funeral director’s licence issued or deemed to have been issued under Part IV;
member means a member of a Board;
memorial includes headstone, plaque, tombstone, monumental work, inscription, kerbing, enclosure and any other fixture or thing commemorating a grave or the placement of ashes;
redevelopment area means a portion of land in a cemetery which is the subject of a redevelopment scheme or proposed redevelopment scheme under Division 4 of Part V;
right of burial means the right to use a specified area of a cemetery for burial.
Notwithstanding the definition of dead body in subsection (1), a Board may in a particular case deem to be a dead body for the purposes of this Act the body of a child of not less than 20 weeks’ gestation that was still born and where a Board so deems this Act shall apply accordingly.
[Section 3 amended: No. 14 of 1996 s. 4; No. 16 of 2019 s. 96.]
The Governor may by order published in the Gazette declare land described in the order to be a cemetery for the purposes of and subject to this Act.
The Governor may by order published in the Gazette declare a cemetery to be closed and direct that after a time specified in the order burials in the cemetery shall be discontinued wholly or subject to any exception or qualification set out in the order or in any further order made under this subsection.
The Governor may by order published in the Gazette vest the care, control and management of a cemetery in a Board or a local government and may by further order, so published, transfer the care, control and management of a cemetery from a Board to a local government or from a local government to a Board.
An order under subsection (1) transferring the care, control and management of a cemetery may include such transitional provisions as are necessary or desirable to effect or facilitate the transfer and in particular may include directions and other provisions for the transfer and vesting of assets and liabilities to enable effect to be given to the order.
[Section 5 amended: No. 14 of 1996 s. 4.]
Where an order is made or is deemed to have been made under section 5 vesting the care, control and management of a cemetery in a local government, the local government shall, subject to this Act and to any necessary modifications, perform and be subject to the duties imposed on Boards under this Act and may exercise the powers conferred on Boards under this Act; and references in this Act to a Board or Boards shall be construed accordingly in relation to such a local government as the case may require.
[Section 6 amended: No. 14 of 1996 s. 4.]
The Governor may by order published in the Gazette establish a cemetery board to perform with respect to a cemetery, or to more than one cemetery, the functions conferred or imposed on Boards under this Act.
A Board is a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and is capable of —
acquiring, holding and disposing of real and personal property; and
suing and being sued; and
doing and suffering all such acts and things as bodies corporate may lawfully do and suffer.
An order under subsection (1) establishing a Board shall state the name by which the Board shall be known.
The Governor may by order published in the Gazette amend the name by which a Board shall be known or dissolve a Board established or deemed to have been established under this section.
A Board shall comprise not less than 3 nor more than 7 persons appointed by the Minister.
The provisions of Schedule 1 shall have effect with respect to the constitution and proceedings of a Board.
A member shall be paid such remuneration and travelling and other allowances as the Minister from time to time determines on the recommendation of the Public Sector Commissioner.
[Section 9 amended: No. 39 of 2010 s. 89.]
A Board may appoint such employees, either full time or part time, as it considers necessary to enable it to carry out its functions.
A Board may engage under contract for services such professional and technical and other assistance as it considers necessary to enable it to carry out its functions.
A Board may provide training, facilities and benefits for its employees.
Notwithstanding anything in this section, to the extent that there is in the case of a person who is appointed under subsection (1) to be an employee of a Board and who is a member of the Senior Executive Service within the meaning of the Public Sector Management Act 1994 1 an inconsistency between this Act and that Act that Act shall prevail.
[Section 10 amended: No. 113 of 1987 s. 32.]
Subject to subsection (3), a person shall not bury or assist at the burial of a dead body in any place other than a cemetery that is not closed unless the burial is in accordance with the Minister’s authorisation given under section 12 or is permitted under section 4(2).
Penalty: $1 000.
A person who bears or assists in bearing or otherwise conveying a dead body or who directs or procures any such burial or officiates at the burial as a minister of religion, funeral director or otherwise shall be taken for the purposes of subsection (1) to assist at the burial.
Regulations under this Act may prescribe areas of the State to which subsection (1) does not apply.
The Minister may authorise the burial of a dead body in a place other than a cemetery where —
the burial is to take place on land that is reserved under the Land Administration Act 1997 for the purpose of burials but is not a cemetery; or
the Minister is satisfied that the burial is to take place in an area that is visibly set apart for and distinguishable as a burial place.
[Section 12 amended: No. 31 of 1997 s. 141.]