Information for medical practitioners & funeral directors

Page content: Medical certificate of cause of death | New process & forms for authorising cremation | Guidance notes for registered medical practitioners authorising cremation | Additional information for medical practitioners, funeral directors and cemetery trusts about the new forms | Medical practitioners authorising cremation: what if a previous version of the medical certificate of cause of death is provided to you? | Funeral directors: what if a previous version of the medical certificate of cause of death is provided? | Cemetery trusts | New forms - What you need to know

Please note that this section should be read in conjunction with additional information for medical practitioners, funeral directors and cemetery trusts about the new forms. Please refer to that section after you have read the information provided here.

Medical certificate of cause of death

From 1 July 2005 new cemeteries laws require doctors certifying death to use the latest Medical certificate of cause of death.

• Medical Certificate of Cause of Death of a person aged 28 days and over (external link)
• Medical Certificate of Cause of Death of cause of Perinatal Death (external link)

The new medical certificate of cause of death is an A3 form in triplicate. It includes additional questions relating to:

• the name, date of birth or age, and the place of birth of any living or deceased sibling of a deceased child, to enable the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages to comply with requirements under the Death Notification Legislation (Amendment) Act 2004; and
• the presence of a cardiac pacemaker or other battery powered device in the body of the deceased person.

The new certificates have been in circulation since February 2005. If you are currently using these certificates please continue to do so.

If you don't have the current Medical Certificate of Cause of Death forms, please call the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages to order a supply on 1300 369 367 (dial "0" after the prompt) or use the Registry's order form:

• Order Form - Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (external link)

Any previous versions of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death may no longer be used and must be destroyed. This includes for example the white A4 Medical Certificate of Cause of Death or any yellow/buff coloured Medical Certificate of Cause of Death forms.

New process & forms for authorising cremation

From 1 July 2005 new forms also apply for authorising cremation. These replace the current four page blue Departmental cremation form. Under the new laws, doctors certifying death are no longer required to complete an additional medical certificate for cremations.

A summary of the new requirements for certifying death and authorising cremation is provided below.

New forms - Certifying death and authorising cremation - what you need to know (133kb, pdf)

Guidance notes for registered medical practitioners authorising cremation

The Department has developed guidance notes to assist medical practitioners authorising cremation under the new laws, in consultation with Government Medical Officers, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, General Practice Divisions Victoria, the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria, the State Coroner, the Australian Medical Association, and the Medical Defence Association of Victoria.

A copy of the guidance notes is provided below.

Guidance notes for medical practitioners authorising cremation (35kb, pdf)

If you require any further information in relation to these matters please feel free to contact the Cemeteries and Crematoria Program on 1800 034 280 or 9637 4160.

Additional information for medical practitioners, funeral directors and cemetery trusts about the new forms

Page content: Medical practitioners | Funeral directors | Cemetery trusts

This information should be read in conjunction with information on new forms for interments, cremations and exhumations, and information for medical practitioners – certifying death and authorising cremation.

Medical practitioners authorising cremation: what if a previous version of the medical certificate of cause of death is provided to you?

When completing the new Certificate of Registered Medical Practitioner Authorising Cremation, medical practitioners authorising cremation are required to certify (among other things) that they have sighted a completed Medical Certificate of Cause of Death of a person aged 28 days or over or a Medical Certificate of Cause of Perinatal Death.

In late June 2005 all general practitioners, hospitals and nursing homes were forwarded copies of the current A3 Medical Certificate of Cause of Death for persons aged 28 days or over. This certificate has been in circulation since February 2005. General practitioners, hospitals and nursing homes were also advised to order additional copies of certificates as required from the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages.

However if the medical practitioner authorising cremation has not been provided with the current Medical Certificate of Cause of Death of a person aged 28 days or over it is recommended they accept:

• the previous white A4 Medical Certificate of Cause of Death; or
• the previous yellow Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (called “Form 15”); or
• a photocopy of the yellow Medical Certificate of Cause of Death that the medical practitioner certifying death handwrites on the certificate is a true copy of the original with his/her signature and date.

Medical practitioners authorising cremation will need to certify they have made careful and independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of the deceased and make a number of other certifications and statements on the form to satisfy themselves that the cremation can proceed.

Guidance Notes are also available to assist medical practitioners responsible for authorising cremations. The Guidance Notes explain the new process for authorising cremations under the new laws.

Funeral directors: what if a previous version of the medical certificate of cause of death is provided?

Funeral directors should note the above advice to medical practitioners authorising cremation.

From 1 July 2005 when the medical practitioner certifying death provides the funeral director with the completed middle two pages of the old blue Application for Cremation form, the funeral director should return this to the medical practitioner certifying death and advise them they are no longer required to complete this form and that the form is no longer in use.

Funeral directors or those who are otherwise arranging the cremation should provide the registered medical practitioner authorising cremation with the completed Medical Certificate of Cause of Death and the new completed Application for Cremation Authorisation. The medical practitioner authorising cremation will return these forms to the funeral director with the completed Certificate of Registered Medical Practitioner Authorising Cremation.

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Question 10 of the current Medical Certificate of Cause of Death asks the medical practitioner certifying death to state whether there is a cardiac pacemaker or other battery powered device present in the body of the deceased. The funeral director should check the answer to this question on the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death to enable him/her to complete the Statement by Funeral Director on page 3 of the new Application for Cremation Authorisation form regarding the removal of any pacemaker or other battery powered device referred to on the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death.

Previous versions of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death do not contain a question about whether a pacemaker is present in the body of the deceased. In such circumstances the funeral director must make enquires to establish whether there is a pacemaker or other battery powered device present in the body of the deceased.

These inquires can be directed to the:

• medical practitioner who signed the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death;
• if known, the medical practitioner who generally treated the deceased; or
• family of the deceased.

Where a previous version of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death has been completed and the funeral director has arranged for the pacemaker or battery powered device to be removed on the basis of advice sought from one of the persons referred to above, the funeral director should amend the wording in the section on the Application for Cremation Authorisation form by deleting the words indicated below:

"I have arranged for any pacemaker or other battery-powered device referred to on the medical certificate of cause of death to be removed from the deceased as required by the relevant cemetery trust".

Cemetery trusts

Cemetery trusts should note the above advice to medical practitioners and funeral directors and should not refuse to conduct a burial or cremation where the paperwork provided substantially complies with the requirements of the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2003.

Where a trust is unsure if the paperwork provided for a burial or cremation is sufficient they should contact the Cemeteries and Crematoria Program for advice on 1800 034 280 or 9637 4160.

Additional copies of the Certificate of Registered Medical Practitioner and Application for Cremation Authorisation forms are available by contacting the Cemeteries and Crematoria Program on the numbers listed above or can be accessed on line in the forms area of this website.

New forms - What you need to know

From 1 July 2005, new forms must be used for interments, cremations and exhumations, as follows:

• Application for Right of Interment;
• Application for Approval to Inter Cremated Human Remains;
• Application for Interment Authorisation;
• Application for Cremation Authorisation;
• Certificate of Registered Medical Practitioner Authorising Cremation; and
• Application to Secretary to the Department of Human Services for an Exhumation Licence.

The table below titled "New forms - What you need to know" provides key information to assist you in using the forms. There are two versions of this table. The first version is for use by trusts without cremators. The second version is for use by trusts with cremators and funeral directors.

Version 1
New forms – What you need to know – trusts without cremators (99kb, pdf)

Version 2
New forms – What you need to know – trusts with cremators and funeral directors (104kb, pdf)

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