Key messages
- Cemetery trusts are required to keep records for the cemeteries they manage.
- Cemetery trust records hold significant value for the cemetery sector, the community and the Victorian Government.
- Cemetery trusts have a range of record keeping obligations under Victorian law.
Cemetery trusts are required to keep records for the cemeteries they manage. Cemetery trusts are public bodies so the records they create are public records.
Cemetery trust records hold significant value for the cemetery sector, the community and the Victorian Government.
Cemetery trusts have record keeping obligations under the following legislation:
- Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2003
- Cemeteries and Crematoria Regulations 2025
- Public Records Act 1973
- Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014
- Freedom of Information Act 1982
- Health Records Act 2001
The department has developed a handbook to provide practical advice about records management for Class B cemetery trusts. The handbook also contains information that may be relevant to Class A cemetery trusts.
The handbook has been developed in consultation with the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner, Public Record Office Victoria and Cemeteries and Crematoria Association of Victoria.
The handbook includes the following topics:
- Types of cemetery trust records
- Prescribed information
- Interment register
- Retention timeframes
- Storage
- Information security
- Privacy
- Public access to cemetery trust records
- Freedom of information
- Digital record keeping
- Copyright
- Archiving cemetery trust records.
Updated