Recruitment and advertising for Class B cemetery trusts

Under the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2003, Class B cemetery trust members are appointed by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Minister for Health. A Class B cemetery trust can have between three and 11 trust members.

Appointments are made in accordance with the Appointment and Remuneration Guidelines and the Diversity on Victorian Government Board Guidelines issued by the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

Under the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act, Class B trust members are appointed for a term of up to five years. Class B cemetery trust members are un-paid volunteers and are eligible to apply for reappointment.

Appointment rounds

Applications for appointment are managed by the department in four annual appointment rounds. Applications from new applicants (or former trust members whose term of appointment has expired) will be processed in one of the four appointment rounds depending on when the completed application is submitted to the department. Each appointment round has a set application deadline date (see table below).

If a current trust member intends to seek reappointment for a consecutive term, the expiry date of their term of appointment will determine which appointment round is applicable. Term of appointment expiry dates are available in the list of current members appointed to Victorian cemetery trusts available for download on the Appointments page.

The following table shows the appointment rounds in 2024, their corresponding member expiry dates and application deadline dates.

Note: If an application for reappointment is received by the department after the corresponding appointment round deadline date, it will be processed in the following appointment round. This means that when the applicant’s term of appointment expires, their trust membership lapses and they will no longer be an active trust member until they have been reappointed. If a trust member’s term of appointment lapses, they will not be eligible to vote at trust meetings but may continue to attend meetings as an observer if the trust agrees.

Diversity on boards

The Victorian Government is committed to ensuring that government boards reflect the rich diversity of Victoria. Class B cemetery trusts should encourage applications for appointment from people of all ages, Aboriginal people, people with disability, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and from lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, gender diverse, intersex and queer people.

Currently the representation of women on Class B cemetery trusts is 31 per cent. In most instances this does not reflect the composition of Victorian communities. Cemetery trusts should actively seek applications for appointment from the same number of women as men.

Information about why diversity on boards is important and the barriers to increasing diversity that cemetery trusts need to be aware of is included in the recruitment toolkit.

Recruitment toolkit

A recruitment toolkit has been developed to provide information about diversity and how to embed diversity considerations into recruitment processes. It contains practical advice to guide Class B cemetery trusts through each step of the recruitment process:

• Planning
• Advertising vacancies
• Interviews
• Referee checks

Templates have been developed to support cemetery trusts undertaking recruitment processes. The templates can be adapted to suit the needs of individual cemetery trusts.

Department advertising

All vacancies on Class B cemetery trusts, including those that arise due to resignation, death or expiry of a member’s term of appointment, need to be publicly advertised. Advertising vacant trust positions ensures that the recruitment process is open and fair.

Class B cemetery trusts and individual members are notified approximately six months before terms of appointment are due to expire. At this time, the department arranges for advertisements to be published in each trust’s preferred publication.

To update the list of preferred publications please contact the department. The department covers the costs associated with publishing these advertisements.

Application form and guidelines

Applicants are required to read the application guidelines for appointment to a Class B cemetery trust and complete the application for appointment to a Class B cemetery trust.

The guidelines contain important information about the department’s use of personal information, probity checks and conflicts of interest. All applicants must declare on the application form that they agree to the application terms detailed in the guidelines.

The application form is an interactive Microsoft Word document that can be completed online and printed for signatures. Alternatively, the PDF version can be printed out and completed by hand.

The applicant completes Part A to Part E of the form and submits it to the trust for consideration. If the trust endorses the application, the trust chairperson (or an authorised person if the chairperson is unavailable) is required to complete Part F (where applicable) and Part G of the application form.

Note: Applicants must complete the current application form. Previous versions of the application form will not be accepted.

Completed application forms should be submitted to the department as soon as possible. Applications signed more than six months prior to consideration by the Governor in Council will not be accepted. The completed form is submitted to the department for processing via email to cemeteries@health.vic.gov.au. If the trust does not have access to email, applications can be posted to:

Cemetery Sector Governance Support Unit
Department of Health
GPO Box 4057
MELBOURNE VIC 3001

Directly related family members on the trust

In Part A of the application form, applicants are asked if they are directly related to any current trust members or other applicants. Directly related family members are defined as husband, wife, domestic partner, parent, child or sibling.

If the applicant confirms that they are directly related to a trust member/applicant, the chairperson (or an authorised person if the chairperson is unavailable) must complete Part F of the application form.

If an endorsed applicant shares the same surname as another trust member/applicant but they are not related family members as defined above, the chairperson should advise the department in writing when the application is submitted.