Latest news with #FuneralDirectorsAssociation
Scoop
3 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Health Select Committee Report Fails To Address Real Issues In Funeral Debt
Press Release – Funeral Directors Assn of NZ We think putting in place better consumer protection, with a backstop of genuine Government support for the most vulnerable is going to have far more impact on funeral debt than simplifying paperwork. The Funeral Directors Association says calls from advocacy group, Death without Debt, to simplify cremation paperwork is distracting Government from the real issues around funeral debt. The Health Select Committee has now released a report on cremation costs and associated matters, finding the current process and regulations create a barrier for people who want to organise their own funerals. However Chief Executive, Gillian Boyes, notes the Select Committee recognised it is already possible for people to complete the paperwork directly, recommending the Te Hokinga ā Wairua | End of Life Service website includes links on its website. 'We're incredibly frustrated this advocacy group has suggested making paperwork easier to find will somehow fix funeral debt,' says Ms Boyes. 'Completing paperwork is a fraction of the cost of funeral services. What does cost is what people want and need, which is the support in caring for them and their loved one when they're at a moment in life where they often can't think straight and where paperwork is the least of their concerns. That is the service funeral directors provide.' Ms Boyes says the industry's own submission to the Health Select Committee recommended the Government should instead focus on: Price transparency in law for all funeral directors. Currently only Funeral Directors Association members are obligated by their Standards and Code of Ethics to be transparent. An increase in the asset testing limit for pre-paid funerals from $10,000 to $15,000. This would ensure those with the means to pre-plan are setting aside a more realistic amount which avoids future debt. An increase in the Work and Income Funeral Grant. This would better protect those with no money for the essential services funeral directors provide. 'Government has to be realistic that when services are provided privately, there is cost involved. 'We think putting in place better consumer protection, with a backstop of genuine Government support for the most vulnerable is going to have far more impact on funeral debt than simplifying paperwork.'
Scoop
3 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Health Select Committee Report Fails To Address Real Issues In Funeral Debt
The Funeral Directors Association says calls from advocacy group, Death without Debt, to simplify cremation paperwork is distracting Government from the real issues around funeral debt. The Health Select Committee has now released a report on cremation costs and associated matters, finding the current process and regulations create a barrier for people who want to organise their own funerals. However Chief Executive, Gillian Boyes, notes the Select Committee recognised it is already possible for people to complete the paperwork directly, recommending the Te Hokinga ā Wairua | End of Life Service website includes links on its website. 'We're incredibly frustrated this advocacy group has suggested making paperwork easier to find will somehow fix funeral debt,' says Ms Boyes. 'Completing paperwork is a fraction of the cost of funeral services. What does cost is what people want and need, which is the support in caring for them and their loved one when they're at a moment in life where they often can't think straight and where paperwork is the least of their concerns. That is the service funeral directors provide.' Ms Boyes says the industry's own submission to the Health Select Committee recommended the Government should instead focus on: Price transparency in law for all funeral directors. Currently only Funeral Directors Association members are obligated by their Standards and Code of Ethics to be transparent. An increase in the asset testing limit for pre-paid funerals from $10,000 to $15,000. This would ensure those with the means to pre-plan are setting aside a more realistic amount which avoids future debt. An increase in the Work and Income Funeral Grant. This would better protect those with no money for the essential services funeral directors provide. 'Government has to be realistic that when services are provided privately, there is cost involved. 'We think putting in place better consumer protection, with a backstop of genuine Government support for the most vulnerable is going to have far more impact on funeral debt than simplifying paperwork.'
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Advocacy group calls for removal of funeral directors as cremation middleman
Photo: 123rf An advocacy group wants to see funeral directors removed as the middleman in cremations, saying it's costing people money. Death Without Debt spokesperson Fergus Wheeler explained two doctors were required to sign off on a death for cremation - the first would have seen the body and made notes about the cause of death, and a second doctor was required sign-off on that paperwork. Currently, the system was set up so that people needed a funeral director to facilitate this second sign-off, with funeral directors billing the family for doing so - but legally, it did not have to be done this way. Wheeler said a small tweak to the Ministry of Health's existing online death documents system could fix this, ideally allowing the first doctor's paperwork to be uploaded to the cloud to be checked by the second doctor, without the need for the funeral director to forward it on. He said the cloud already existed, it just required a change of process. "You can if you understand the medical referee system, sometimes, if you're lucky, get through the system," Wheeler said. "But 99.9 percent of the public have no idea how the system works." As well as giving funeral directors permission to charge a service fee for this administration task, it also gave them the opportunity to "hook people into a package deal", charging grieving families for things they did not need. The Funeral Directors Association strongly denied this allegation to the select committee. With cremations now making up 80 percent of deaths - in part because the cost was still a lot less than a burial - Wheeler said this affected a lot of people. "We don't blame the funeral industry particularly for this," Wheeler said. "It's actually the Ministry of Health [who have] known that the system has been dysfunctional for decades." The Health Select Committee's final report into funeral debt was released last week. In it, it agreed that "the current process and regulations impose high costs on the public and create a barrier for people who want to organise their own funerals, particularly when their loved ones are about to be cremated". It encouraged the ministry to prioritise further work on updating the cremation regulations, and requested a report on the planned changes to regulations before the end of this parliamentary term. "We also encourage the ministry to consider making all documents relating to cremation available on the Death Documents website. We note that the Ministry's planned work could address the current barriers to DIY funerals." But Wheeler said those directives to the ministry were weak and lacked urgency. "You've got a pretty major social problem with funeral debt happening, and the Health Select Committee have said, well, let's fix it sometime in the next few years. It's not quick enough, it's not urgent enough," he said. The Funeral Directors Association, which represents about 75 percent of funeral homes, was approached for comment by the select committee, and its comments were included in the final report. According to the report, it "strongly refuted what it described as Death Without Debt's 'allegations of predatory behaviour' on the part of funeral homes, and said that, on the contrary, the industry has a 'caring, respectful, and professional approach'." "It maintained that, without public funding of funeral services, private funeral companies must fill the void. In so doing, these companies incur property, insurance, compliance, staffing, and other costs, which must be covered by the prices they charge." It suggested the government introduce a legislative mandate for funeral prices to be transparent - it required price transparency from its members and said it encouraged them to offer free consultations for those pre-planning and pre-paying for funerals. Comments from the Ministry of Health were also included in the report. It acknowledged the current burial and cremation processes were "outdated and disproportionate, and needed modernisation". It said previous work in this area had been delayed by Covid-19, but it was in discussions with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Department of Internal Affairs about modernising the regulation of the funeral sector. "The ministry told us it is committed to reviewing the cremation regulations in 2025," the report said. The Funeral Directors Association, the Ministry of Health and the select committee have been approached for further comment. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
24-04-2025
- General
- Scoop
Fewer Tangihanga On The Marae: Families ‘Don't Feel Really Connected'
Article – RNZ More Mori are choosing to have tangihanga at home instead of marae, says the Funeral Directors Association. , Journalist More Māori are choosing to have tangihanga at home instead of marae, says the Funeral Directors Association. The increase is being driven by factors such as cost, urbanisation of Māori and cultural disconnection. Rob Moke, 46, is one person who wants his tangihanga at home, due to religious differences with his whānau and lack of time spent at his marae. 'If we went to a marae then kawa, tikanga is dictated by the haukāinga as well as all of our kōrero and our traditions passed down from on the marae. So at least this way, my wife and my daughter will have free reign to do as they please without being hurt. Not only physically but potentially spiritually and emotionally,' Moke said. Eighty-year-old Vivienne Te Rangiita-Kumeroa had her late husband's tangi at home and transformed the carport into a dining room. She said it saved so much money, she has decided to also have her tangi at home. 'It was such a huge difference, I'm talking thousands of dollars difference. You don't have to worry about the big huge cost at the marae, it costs a lot of money to feed people for two or three days,' Te Rangiita-Kumeroa said. It is a trend the Funeral Directors Association has observed across the country. Cultural advisor Larni Hepi said about three in five whānau across the Eastern Bay of Plenty have tangi at home or at a funeral home, instead of the marae. The Whakatanē funeral director said the falling number of number of kaumātua and kuia was a contributing factor, and he was worried important traditions could be lost. 'Tangihanga is one of our main acts of being Māori and when people choose not to have their tangihanga at the marae and apply the customs and the rituals associated with tangihanga, then we have a further disconnect and then it becomes a generational disconnect,' Hepi said. Hepi said cost, cultural disconnection and distance were combining to make Marae tangihanga a luxury. Haami Tohu owns Eternal Tides Funeral Services in Whangārei and said 20 years ago about 90 percent of local Māori held their tangihanga on marae, partly because kaumātua had a big say on what happened. He said among his clients about one in five Māori now held their service at their home often because they were culturally disconnected. 'You get families that hardly go back to the marae, hardly go back to the hapu, not involved with the hapu, don't feel really connected to the marae. You start to see these kind of factors like will anyone turn up, who's going to cook, who's going to dig my hole,' Tohu said. Pouroto Ngaropo said tikanga and kawa around tangihanga has developed and will continue to evolve with each generation. 'We can sit down with the family before that person dies, not turn up to the marae and then 'hey I'm here, what do I need to do' but actually the preparations, the understanding and the communication so that when the deceased passes, everyone understands what everyone is going to do to support one another,' Ngaropo said.
Scoop
24-04-2025
- General
- Scoop
Fewer Tangihanga On The Marae: Families 'Don't Feel Really Connected'
More Māori are choosing to have tangihanga at home instead of marae, says the Funeral Directors Association. The increase is being driven by factors such as cost, urbanisation of Māori and cultural disconnection. Rob Moke, 46, is one person who wants his tangihanga at home, due to religious differences with his whānau and lack of time spent at his marae. "If we went to a marae then kawa, tikanga is dictated by the haukāinga as well as all of our kōrero and our traditions passed down from on the marae. So at least this way, my wife and my daughter will have free reign to do as they please without being hurt. Not only physically but potentially spiritually and emotionally," Moke said. Eighty-year-old Vivienne Te Rangiita-Kumeroa had her late husband's tangi at home and transformed the carport into a dining room. She said it saved so much money, she has decided to also have her tangi at home. "It was such a huge difference, I'm talking thousands of dollars difference. You don't have to worry about the big huge cost at the marae, it costs a lot of money to feed people for two or three days," Te Rangiita-Kumeroa said. It is a trend the Funeral Directors Association has observed across the country. Cultural advisor Larni Hepi said about three in five whānau across the Eastern Bay of Plenty have tangi at home or at a funeral home, instead of the marae. The Whakatanē funeral director said the falling number of number of kaumātua and kuia was a contributing factor, and he was worried important traditions could be lost. "Tangihanga is one of our main acts of being Māori and when people choose not to have their tangihanga at the marae and apply the customs and the rituals associated with tangihanga, then we have a further disconnect and then it becomes a generational disconnect," Hepi said. Hepi said cost, cultural disconnection and distance were combining to make Marae tangihanga a luxury. Haami Tohu owns Eternal Tides Funeral Services in Whangārei and said 20 years ago about 90 percent of local Māori held their tangihanga on marae, partly because kaumātua had a big say on what happened. He said among his clients about one in five Māori now held their service at their home often because they were culturally disconnected. "You get families that hardly go back to the marae, hardly go back to the hapu, not involved with the hapu, don't feel really connected to the marae. You start to see these kind of factors like will anyone turn up, who's going to cook, who's going to dig my hole," Tohu said. Pouroto Ngaropo said tikanga and kawa around tangihanga has developed and will continue to evolve with each generation. "We can sit down with the family before that person dies, not turn up to the marae and then 'hey I'm here, what do I need to do' but actually the preparations, the understanding and the communication so that when the deceased passes, everyone understands what everyone is going to do to support one another," Ngaropo said.
