In our earlier post Burial of pets in churchyards – an overview, we considered the situation in England and Wales, and noted that burying an animal in a church or municipal cemetery, including the placement of an urn in a coffin, was illegal. However, burial on private land with the owner’s permission or scattering with the ashes of a pet were permissible in most cases.
A similar situation existed in Victoria, Australia until the new legislation was passed in November last year. Extracts from the government Press Release announcing the change are reproduced below.
Pet burials in human cemeteries
12 November 2025
Victoria now allows pets to be buried at cemeteries alongside their owners, becoming just the second jurisdiction in Australia to do so.
The Domestic Animals Amendment (Rehoming Cats and Dogs and Other Matters) Bill 2025 overturns the previous ban on the placement and burial of animal remains in a place of interment.
Animal Justice Party and Northern Victoria MP Georgie Purcell initiated the change during the Committee Stage of debate on the bill in the Legislative Council. ‘This is an amendment that is basically drafted identically to a recent one that passed in New South Wales [in May 2025], and it would be bringing us into line with the change that they have just made,’ she said.
Ms Purcell said cemeteries had been forced to choose between complying with someone’s final wishes or complying with the law.
‘This has also meant that public cemeteries which are illegally burying pets with people are not recording the plots, which is leading to further risk down the line where a pet has been buried in a family plot and is not on the interment record – in future a different cemetery manager may tend to that plot and discover that someone has honoured that wish of someone,’ she said.
Previously, burying an animal in a public cemetery, even placing an urn in a coffin, was illegal. The only legal way for owners to be laid to rest with their pets was to either be buried on private land with the owner’s permission or to be scattered with the ashes of a pet outside the gates of a cemetery.
‘This is a really important change because, as I said, this is currently already happening in a way that is not regulated, and it is causing issues with plot records down the line,’ Ms Purcell said.
[…]
Shadow Health Minister and Southern Metropolitan MP Georgie Crozier sought clarification about potential impacts on health and safety and cemetery over-crowding. Ms Crozier also questioned the practicality of animal burials in human cemeteries, if owners predecease their pets.
‘I am looking at it from a health and safety impact and how that would impact not only those working in the funeral industry but, more broadly, the spread of disease within the community,’ she said.
‘It would not be a matter of storing the body in a separate place until a human passes, it would be a matter of a person having that request and already having a plot and the animal would be buried within it,’ Ms Purcell responded.
The change garnered almost unanimous support, only South-Eastern Metropolitan MP David Limbrick opposed it. The Legislative Assembly agreed to it and separate amendments made by the Council and the bill has since received Royal Assent.
The full debate is here.
The Domestic Animals Amendment (Rehoming Cats and Dogs and Other Matters) Act 2025 was granted Royal Assent on 5 November 2025. The relevant section is below.
Part 6A—Amendment of Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2003
50A Power to make cemetery trust rules
After section 26(2)(g) of the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2003 insert—”(ga) the placement and burial of animal remains in places of interment;”.
50B New section 78A inserted
After section 78 of the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2003 insert—”78A Placement and burial of animal remains
Nothing in this Act prevents the placement and burial of animal remains in a place of interment.”
Comment
It is important to note that the new law is permissive rather than mandatory, and changes provisions relating to public cemeteries rather than what is permissible on private property. Consequently, it does not compromise existing religious and other provisions. Furthermore, the wording “in places of interment” has the potential for a wide interpretation of “alongside their owners”.
As in the UK, there are requirements on the ownership of the land used and the protection of watercourses for all pet burials. Victoria has no state-wide prohibition on home burial of domestic animals, provided environmental and public‑health requirements are met. Under the new provisions, families must complete a funeral permit application including detailed interment details to cemetery managers. In terms of the Cemetery Trust, these include accurate record keeping of position on plot, burial depth, and individual identity of all remains, allowing for respectful and legal management of graves. Any additional cemetery-specific or religious site regulations must be followed, some private cemeteries will have additional restrictions. Documentation and recording are critical to address the previous problem of improper or unrecorded pet interments that threaten disruption.
Footnote
At L&RUK we do not give legal advice, or purport to do so. This post summarizes the issues relating to the burial of pets. For specific queries on the application of the legislation, professional legal advice and the opinion of the competent authorities should be sought.
With acknowledgements to Michael Broad for alerting us to these developments in his blog.