Funeral notices in Australia are the short, practical announcements that tell a wider community when someone has died and what arrangements have been made, and this guide is for any family member, friend or funeral organiser who needs to write or place one quickly. You will find exactly what to include, where Australians typically publish a notice, sample wording for common situations, and how a notice can be linked to a fuller, lasting tribute once the immediate arrangements are settled.
TL;DR
- A funeral notice is short and factual: name, age, date of passing, and service or visitation details – usually under 100-150 words.
- It is different from an obituary, which tells the story of a person’s life. If you need help with that longer piece, see our guide on how to write an obituary in Australia.
- Notices are typically placed in metropolitan and local newspapers, on funeral home websites, and on dedicated online funeral notice platforms.
- Most papers charge by the line or word, so families often keep the print notice brief and put the fuller story online.
- Always confirm wording and timing with your funeral director before submitting – they often handle bookings on the family’s behalf.
- A Forever In Our Hearts online memorial gives the printed or online notice a permanent home for $59 AUD, with no ongoing word limit and no expiry date.
Context and audience
When someone dies, one of the first practical tasks is letting people know – not just close family, but the wider circle of friends, colleagues, neighbours and community contacts who would want to attend a service or simply be informed. A funeral notice is how that happens in Australia. It is usually written and placed within a day or two of the death, often by a family member working alongside the funeral director, and it needs to be accurate, clear and respectful under real time pressure.
This guide is for that moment – whether you are a family member drafting the wording yourself, a friend helping out, or a funeral director or celebrant guiding a family through the process. It focuses specifically on the funeral notice itself: what belongs in it, where to place it and how to word it well. If your family also wants to publish a longer obituary or a full life story, that is a separate and bigger task covered in our companion guide on writing an obituary in Australia.
Funeral notice vs obituary: keeping the scope clear
These two terms get used interchangeably in everyday conversation, but they serve different purposes and it helps to be clear on the difference before you start writing.
A funeral notice (sometimes called a death notice) is short and functional. Its job is to announce the death, name the immediate family, and give the practical details of the service – date, time, venue and any requests such as flowers or donations in lieu. Most run under 150 words because newspapers charge per line.
An obituary is a longer, narrative piece about who the person was – their career, character, relationships and the things they will be remembered for. It can run to several hundred words or more and is far better suited to a funeral home website, a printed program or an online memorial than to a paid newspaper notice.
Many Australian families publish both: a brief notice in the days immediately after the death to inform the community and confirm service details, and a fuller piece later – often online – once there is time to write it properly. This guide deals only with the first of those two tasks.
What to include in a funeral notice
A clear funeral notice answers the questions a reader needs answered quickly. Use this as a checklist:
Essential details
- Full name of the deceased, including any name they were commonly known by.
- Age, or date of birth and date of death.
- Suburb or town of residence (a street address is not required and is not recommended for privacy reasons).
- Date of death, and if relevant, a brief note such as “passed away peacefully” or “passed away suddenly”.
Family details
- Immediate family the person is survived by – typically a spouse or partner, children, grandchildren and siblings, named or simply described by relationship.
- Some families also note who the person was “loved by” more broadly, such as extended family or close friends, without listing every name.
Service details
- Date, time and location of the funeral or memorial service.
- Whether the service is private (family only) or open to the wider community.
- Details of any viewing or visitation period, if applicable.
- Burial or cremation details, if the family wishes to share them.
- A livestream link or instructions for guests who cannot attend in person – see our guide on including remote guests via funeral livestream if this applies to your service.
Optional closing lines
- A request for flowers, or a note directing donations to a charity in lieu of flowers.
- A short personal line, such as a favourite saying or a simple expression of love.
- Contact details for RSVPs or catering numbers, if the family is managing those directly rather than through the funeral home.
Keep the tone plain and warm rather than literary. A funeral notice is read quickly, often by people scanning a newspaper page or a notices website, so clarity matters more than eloquence here – save the more personal, descriptive writing for an obituary or tribute page.
Sample wording for common situations
These examples show the level of detail typically used. Adjust names, relationships and details to suit your family.
Standard notice: “SMITH, Margaret Joan. Passed away peacefully on 14 May 2026, aged 82 years, late of Toowoomba. Beloved wife of the late Robert, loving mother of Sarah and David, cherished grandmother of five. Funeral service to be held at St Andrew’s Uniting Church, Toowoomba, on Friday 23 May 2026 at 11am, followed by a private cremation. Family flowers only please; donations in lieu may be made to the Heart Foundation.”
Sudden or unexpected passing: “JONES, Peter Anthony. Passed away suddenly on 10 May 2026, aged 56 years. Much loved husband of Claire, father of Michael and Emma. A celebration of Peter’s life will be held at Riverside Memorial Gardens on Tuesday 20 May 2026 at 2pm. All welcome to attend.”
Private service: “WALKER, Helen. Passed away on 8 May 2026, aged 91 years. Dearly loved mother and grandmother. A private family service has been held. The family thanks everyone for their kind messages and support during this time.”
Your funeral director can usually help finalise wording before it is submitted, particularly around correct legal names, titles and any specific phrasing the family wants used.
Where to Post Funeral Notices in Australia
Australian families typically use one or more of the following outlets, often at the same time:
Major metropolitan newspapers
Mastheads such as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian and The Courier-Mail all carry funeral and death notices, usually in a dedicated classifieds or tributes section, both in print and online. These reach the widest general audience but are charged by the line, so cost rises quickly with notice length.
Local and regional newspapers
For many families, a local paper reaches the people who actually knew the deceased – neighbours, local community groups, school or sporting connections. Regional papers are often more affordable than the metropolitan mastheads and are a sensible primary choice in smaller towns.
Funeral home and notice websites
Most funeral homes publish notices directly on their own website at no extra cost as part of their service, and there are also dedicated Australian funeral notice platforms that index notices by name, location and date, which makes them easier for distant friends or family to find through a search engine.
Funeral director booking
In practice, most families do not contact the newspaper directly. The funeral director typically handles the booking, formatting and submission of the notice as part of their service, working from a draft the family provides or helps them write. The Australian Funeral Directors Association has further guidance on the practical steps a funeral director usually manages on a family’s behalf, including notice placement.
Privacy and consent considerations
A funeral notice is a public document, often searchable online indefinitely, so it is worth pausing on a few privacy points before it is submitted:
- Home addresses: avoid listing a street address for the deceased or surviving family members; a suburb or town is sufficient and safer.
- Children’s names: consider whether to name minor grandchildren or great-grandchildren individually, or refer to them collectively, depending on family preference.
- Estranged or sensitive relationships: if family relationships are complicated, agree on wording with close family before publishing rather than after – notices are difficult to amend once printed.
- Scams targeting bereaved families: be aware that public notices can occasionally attract unsolicited contact. The eSafety Commissioner publishes general guidance on protecting personal information online, which is a useful reference if a notice will also be shared on social media or a public tribute page.
Where Forever In Our Hearts can help
A funeral notice does its job well in the days around a service – it informs people quickly and gives them what they need to attend or pay respects. But newspaper archives are often paywalled, notice websites can be hard to find later, and a 100-word announcement was never meant to hold a person’s whole story.
A Forever In Our Hearts online memorial picks up where the notice leaves off. For a one-time $59 AUD payment, families can build a permanent tribute page with photos, a life timeline, an online guest book, service details, donation links and an optional livestream link – all accessible by a shareable link or a printed QR code that can sit alongside a service program or a graveside plaque. Unlike a notice, it has no word limit and no expiry date, so the fuller story families could not fit into a printed announcement has somewhere lasting to live.
Many families use the notice and the memorial together: the notice announces the service and points people – through a QR code or a simple web link – to the fuller memorial page where the community can leave messages, view photos and revisit the tribute at any time, long after the funeral itself. You can see exactly what to include in an online memorial if you are planning to set one up alongside a notice.
FAQs
What is the difference between a funeral notice and a death notice?
In Australia the terms are generally used interchangeably. Both describe a short, factual announcement of a death, naming immediate family and giving service details, as distinct from a longer obituary that tells the story of the person’s life.
How much do funeral notices cost in Australia?
Cost varies by publication and is usually charged per line or per word, with metropolitan papers more expensive than local or regional papers. Funeral directors can usually provide a current price guide and will often include the booking as part of their overall service.
How long should a funeral notice be?
Most funeral notices run between 50 and 150 words. Keeping to the essentials – name, age, date of passing, immediate family and service details – keeps the notice readable and keeps newspaper costs manageable.
Can I publish a funeral notice without using a funeral director?
Yes, most newspapers and notice websites accept direct submissions from family members. In practice, most families let their funeral director handle the booking since they already manage timing, formatting and any required documentation.
Do I need a separate obituary if I have already placed a funeral notice?
Not always, but many families choose to add one later once there is time to write something more personal. If you are ready for that step, our guide on how to write an obituary in Australia covers structure, templates and wording.
Can a funeral notice include a link to an online memorial?
Yes. Many families add a short line directing readers to an online memorial or include a QR code on the printed service program, which gives guests an easy way to find photos, the order of service and a guest book without needing the full web address.
What happens to a funeral notice after it is published?
Printed notices are typically archived by the newspaper, sometimes behind a paywall, and online notice platforms vary in how long they keep listings publicly accessible. This is one reason families increasingly pair a notice with a permanent, independently hosted memorial page.
Conclusion
A funeral notice has one job: to tell people, clearly and respectfully, that someone has died and where the service will be held. Keep it factual, confirm the wording with your funeral director, and choose the outlet – metropolitan paper, local paper or notice website – that best reaches the people who need to know. Once the immediate arrangements are settled, a Forever In Our Hearts memorial gives the fuller story a lasting home, so the people who could not make it to the service, or who want to revisit it months or years later, always have somewhere to go.
