Tasmanian Cemetery Register

The Director of Local Government or the Regulator must keep a register of cemeteries for the State in keeping with section 14 of the Burial and Cremation Act 2019 (the Act) and to allow the public to view and download the register.

Cemetery means:

a place that has been:
- approved, under the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993, for the burial of human remains; and
- lawfully used for the burial or placement of human remains; or

a place that is, or was, lawfully used for the burial or placement of human remains; or

a place, land or structure, or a class of places, land or structures, prescribed as a cemetery. For example there are some churches that are cemeteries because there are human remains buried or placed in the church.

Burials on private land, in keeping with section 29 of the Act, are not cemeteries.

The Tasmanian Cemetery Register

The register of cemeteries must have (but is not limited to) the following information:

the name and address of the cemetery;

the full name and business address of the cemetery manager;

the business name, if any, under which the cemetery is managed; and

a way to identify the area used for the cemetery.

If a cemetery manager knows there is incorrect, incomplete or missing information in the cemetery register they must tell the Regulator as soon as possible and provide the correct information to the Regulator.

There is a penalty with a fine of not more than 30 penalty units (in the financial year 2020-21 this would be $5,160) if the cemetery manager does not notify the Regulator.

In keeping with section 42 of the Act, land owners can tell the Regulator if they think their land is a cemetery or has more than one monument on it and if it is not listed on the cemeteries register.

There is a penalty with a fine of not more than 10 penalty units (in the financial year 2020-21 this would be $1,720) if the land owner does not notify the Regulator.

The cemetery register is available to view and download in two formats, as one Excel spreadsheet in alphabetical order of the suburb or town where the cemetery is located and as five PDF sheets in alphabetical order of the suburb or town where the cemetery is located - A to C, D to K, L to O, P to S and T to Z. The Excel spreadsheet and the five PDFs for the register are available below: