Much of what we do in Australia is common to what we do the world over.  It is for this reason that we have included organisations located in other countries.  Many of the principles and practices apply across borders and cultures.

THE GOOD FUNERAL GUIDE (UK): This is a not-for-profit social enterprise company. It is wholly independent of the funeral industry and is dedicated to supporting, empowering and representing the interests of dying and bereaved people living in the UK. http://www.goodfuneralguide.co.uk/

COMBINED PENSIONERS & SUPERANNUANTS ASSOCIATION (CPSA) (AUS): Funerals are an essential service within the community and should be regarded, resourced and regulated as such. Everybody should have access to appropriate and affordable funeral and burial or cremation services.  http://cpsa.org.au/funerals

DEATH TALKER (AUS): “Because death is as much a part of life as breathing, it touches every element of what we do every day. The sooner we embrace death as part of our life journey, the sooner we will learn to live each moment to its fullest potential whether in our families, at work, at play or in our quiet reflective times. Embracing death as part of life helps us to learn from those who have gone before us, to value our relationships with others and allows us to retain connections with people we love who have died.” Molly challenges our habit of drifting through life. She questions the age old excuse of “I don’t have time” and helps audiences to see that the quantity of time spent connecting with others is not as important as the quality of the time we spend. http://www.deathtalker.com/

THE GROUNDSWELL PROJECT (AUS): This is a not for profit organisation known for using innovative arts and health programs to create social and cultural change about death and dying. Our aim is to promote resilience and wellbeing in response to end of life issues and to encourage people to build their death literacy.  http://thegroundswellproject.com/

THE NATURAL DEATH CENTRE (AUS): We are actively involved locally (in the Byron Shire, north coast NSW) with the death and dying process, and are also part of the growing global wave of individuals and organizations who are committed to demystifying and reclaiming death and dying. http://www.naturaldeathcentre.org.au/  or http://www.zenithvirago.com/death-dying/the-natural-death-centre/p/348

THE NATURAL DEATH CENTRE (UK): We are passionate about sharing knowledge, dispelling myths, and empowering everyone who wants to have the best experience possible when it comes to making arrangements for a funeral.  We firmly believe that knowledge is power, and that by knowing what is possible, you will be able to make informed choices about what is right for you, your family and for the person who has died. http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/

CENTRE FOR DEATH AND SOCIETY:  This the UK’s only centre devoted to the study and research of social aspects of death, dying and bereavement.  It is a great source of information both academic and popular.   Subscribe to the e-newsletter to keep in touch with what’s going around the world.   http://www.bath.ac.uk/cdas/

DYING WITH DIGNITY (DwD-NSW): We believe that individuals should have the right to choose a peaceful death when suffering is unrelievable and death inevitable. At least 80% of Australians now want the option of this final freedom. http://www.dwdnsw.org.au/ves/index.php/dwdnsw/

FINAL FLING: Final Fling is the UK’s first one-stop shop for end of life planning. https://www.finalfling.com/

FUNERAL ALTERNATIVES: A generation ago the baby boomers brought back home births. Recently there has been a resurgence in home-based end-of-life care.  As a natural extension of home hospice care, families are choosing to care for the body of their deceased loved one themselves, at home. http://funeralalternatives.wordpress.com/

INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE OF CELEBRANCY: All aspects of celebrancy are covered from naming, to marriage and funerals.   Note these cautionary words when considering a funeral …  “Make sure to contact your Funeral Celebrant first, before contacting a funeral director. Get your Funeral Celebrant to recommend, and to contact on your behalf, the funeral director. Many are unsympathetic to the quality of the ceremony; they naturally prefer to emphasise the non-ceremonial elements e.g. coffins, limousines, and embalming, which are central to their business.”   http://www.collegeofcelebrancy.com/

DYING MATTERS COALITION (UK): Dying Matters is a broad based and inclusive national coalition of 30,000 members, which aims to change public knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards dying, death and bereavement.   http://dyingmatters.org/

FUNERAL CONSUMERS ALLIANCE (USA):  This is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting a consumer’s right to choose a meaningful, dignified, affordable funeral. http://www.funerals.org/about-the-fca

CROSSINGS (USA) exists to foster the integration of dying and after-death care back into our family and community life. We strive to increase awareness of alternatives to conventional funeral and burial care. We believe that home funeral and green burial care are more meaningful, affordable and environmentally responsible. We are a home funeral and green burial resource center – particularly educating the family to act as funeral director – which is legal in almost all 50 States.         http://www.crossings.net/

IT’S OK  TO DIE (USA): “Like it or not, we all die. But those who have made their peace with life and who have made clear plans in advance for death, find that the end of life may be transformed into a powerful time unlike any other.” http://www.oktodie.com/

NATURAL TRANSITIONS (USA) is a non-profit resource centre providing education on conscious, holistic, and green approaches to end of life, including family-directed home-based after-death care also known as “home funerals.”  http://www.naturaltransitions.org/

ORDER OF THE GOOD DEATH (USA):  Founded by a mortician and writer living in Los Angeles, CA. Since then, the Order has expanded to include filmmakers, poets, musicians, artists, and writers exploring ways to prepare a death phobic culture for their inevitable mortality.   The Order is about making death a part of your life. That means committing to staring down your death fears- whether it be your own death, the death of those you love, the pain of dying, the afterlife (or lack thereof), grief, corpses, bodily decomposition, or all of the above. Accepting that death itself is natural, but the death anxiety and terror of modern culture are not.  http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/

SHROUD MEMENTO can help families produce meaningful wraps for their deceased loved ones.  Helen Dunne is passionate about giving shrouds a more prominent place in the end-of-life ritual.   Learn all about it: http://funeralshrouds.com.au/

THE AMATEURS GUIDE TO DEATH AND DYING (USA) is the address of a website that originated with the publishing of a book by Richard Wagner.  It is not for the faint hearted, with a smattering of humour in the form of cartoon posts.   http://theamateursguide.com/

DEATH CAFE is a place where people get together to eat cake, drink tea and talk about death. The objective is to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives. A Death Cafe is a group directed discussion of death with no agenda, objective or themes. It is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counselling session.  http://deathcafe.com/

DEATH SALON: We hold events that bring together intellectuals and independent thinkers engaged in the exploration of our shared mortality by sharing knowledge and art. Death is sanitized and hidden in contemporary culture to the point of becoming a taboo subject. We aim to subvert this death denial by opening up conversations with the public about death and its anthropological, historical, and artistic contributions to culture. http://deathsalon.org/

LET’S HAVE DINNER AND TALK ABOUT DEATH: How we want to die – represents the most important and costly conversation America isn’t having. We have gathered dozens of medical and wellness leaders to cast an unflinching eye at end of life, and we have created an uplifting interactive adventure that transforms this seemingly difficult conversation into one of deep engagement, insight and empowerment.  http://deathoverdinner.org/

7 CUPS OF TEA (USA): is an on-demand emotional health and well-being service.  Our bridging technology anonymously and securely connects real people to real listeners for one-on-one chat sessions or phone calls. http://www.7cupsoftea.com/

DYING2LEARN:  This is a list of websites suggested by participants in the online learning course (MOOC) organised by CareSearch.  The scope of the 5 week program was sufficient to show just how much diversity there is within the dying and death area of interest.  http://www.caresearch.com.au/caresearch/portals/0/MOOC/Dying2LearnResourcesFactsheet.pdf

CROSSINGS: 
http://hunterguidance.com.au/content/themes/hunter/assets/js/html5shiv.js

http://hunterguidance.com.au/content/themes/hunter/assets/js/html5shiv.js
Farewell Guidance is the practice of helping people through their process of Farewelling life and loved ones.  As well as guiding those loved ones through their own process of facing imminent loss and being supported in ‘letting go’. http://hunterguidance.com.au/#Crossings