About
Desert Funerals is a culturally sensitive and not-for-profit funeral service. Based in Alice Springs, it services numerous remote communities around the Northern Territory.
In December 2018, a number of meetings were held in Alice Springs to discuss the social and financial impact of funerals on the Central Australian Aboriginal community. An interstate not-for-profit funeral provider attended, as well as representatives from land councils, a range of legal services, health services, and other organisations servicing Aboriginal communities across Central Australia.
There was a consensus of views that the circumstances around death had a significant and disproportionate impact on Aboriginal communities, for various reasons, including the lack of choice of funeral service providers in the region, the financial impact on family members trying to bury their loved ones, and inflated funeral costs in general.
In March 2019, the Boards of Ngurratjuta/Pmara Ntjarra Aboriginal Corporation and Centrecorp determined that a resolution to the issue of funerals must be progressed, as it had been a subject of discussion for over ten years.
Desert Funerals operates funeral services under a culturally appropriate, not-for-profit model. This will bring about significant positive change and dignity to the lives, and deaths, of Aboriginal people in Central Australia.
Centrecorp
The Centrecorp Foundation focuses on the needs of young Aboriginal people in disadvantaged circumstances, providing assistance to those who might otherwise be unable to pursue their aspirations and abilities at school.
The foundation wanted to help deliver the Desert Funerals service because it is well aware that funeral costs often contribute to a never-ending cycle of financial burden for Aboriginal people in Central Australia. Once they have saved up for one funeral, there is often another within the family to begin saving for. The not-for-profit service of Desert Funerals aims to lessen the impact of funeral services on a family’s finances.
Ngurratjuta/Pmara Ntjarra Aboriginal Corporation
Ngurratjuta/Pmara Ntjarra
Aboriginal Corporation
is an association of the communities deemed to have been “affected” by the oil and gas
mining operations at Mereenie and Palm Valley.
Having spent a significant amount of time and money helping their members and members’ families to cover the costs of funerals, the corporation wanted to provide a more holistic, culturally sensitive approach to delivering funeral services. The emphasis of Desert Funerals for them is to provide a not-for-profit service for families during their time of need, rather than having to solve financial issues at a later date.
Founded by Ngurratjuta/Pmara Ntjarra Aboriginal Corporation and Centrecorp.
A member of the National Funeral Directors Association of Australia.