Books about the Australian Funeral Industry

    Here are three good books which look at the history and changes to the Australian funeral landscape.   These books have been an invaluable source for my thesis, and generally understanding the industry as it is today.  The books look at social changes with death, in terms of attitudes, customs, demographics, and so on.  Through knowing how dying and grieving have changed we can understand the funeral industry and funerals in general.

    Anyone studying (or simply interested in) the funeral industry ro funerals anywhere in the world should have a look at these books.

Griffin, G.M., & Tobin, D. (1997). In the Midst of Life: The Australian Response to Death: Melbourne University Publishing.

Jalland, Patricia. (2006). Changing Ways of Death in Twentieth Century Australia : War, Medicine and the Funeral Business. Sydney: Sydney University of NSW Press.

Kellehear, A. (2000). Death and Dying in Australia: Oxford University Press Australia.

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Thank you for the book

    I want to say thank you to a fellow honours student for giving me a handy book.  Recently this student gave me a book for free, a nice gesture which I appreciate.  But what is better is that he saw the book and thought of me.

    This book was just what I needed for my background chapter.  So it was not only a thoughtful gift, but also a useful resource.

     One thing I really enjoy about honours are the other students, everyone is supportive and just a pleasure to chat with.  It is people like this who make the honours experience all the more enjoyable.

    So thank you fellow student, I hope to return the favour one day!




Details of the book:

Griffin, G.M., & Tobin, D. (1997). In the Midst of Life: The Australian Response to Death. Melbourne University Publishing.

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Short History of the Australian Funeral Industry

    As part of my honours research I have been looking into the history of the funeral industry, which might be interesting to a few people.  In doing so I have also discovered many sources are long and dense, or difficult to find.  So here is a short summary of what I know so far, everything in one place, and put simply!

Funeral Rights - a critique

    This has been on my to-do list for a while, to review 'Funeral Rights' by Robert Larkins.  It is the only book of its kind that I can find on the Australian funeral industry.

    Unfortunately it is not a good book in many ways, nor is it a good representation of the funeral industry.  So I have decided to pick out a couple of faults with it.