NDAN - Natural Death Advocacy Network

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NDAN - Natural Death Advocacy Network

Advocating for a more natural and transparent manner of dealing with death and dying. Advocates for home funerals and natural burials.

We are a growing Australian network and advocacy partnership of community facilitators, professionals, activists and educators working to enrich the experience of dying and death. Our aim is to create an informative, innovative and transparent organization advocating holistic approaches to dying and death through independent research and action. Our main areas of advocacy include death education,

funeral planning, family lead funeral care, natural burial and bereavement care. We are committed to providing individuals, families and communities with professional, creative and informed assistance to choose meaningful, humane and ecological pathways at the end of life.

02/09/2026

What is a Family Led Funeral?

A family led funeral is a term used to describe a funeral practice where the person who has died is cared for by the family and community from the moment of death, through to the delivery of the funeral ceremony, and up to the disposal of the body. This encompasses everything from a complete do-it-yourself approach (where there is no, or minimal, involvement from funeral professionals) to a blended approach where the care and organisation are conducted as a shared arrangement between the family and their chosen professionals. This is distinct from the contemporary or current western process of funeral and ceremony where families are ‘directed’ entirely by a funeral business. In a family led funeral, the family ’directs’, they choose if and how a funeral business will support them.

Family-led funerals are not a new concept—in fact, just a few decades ago, they were the norm. However, within today’s commercialised death care system, families reclaiming the care of their dead is often seen as ‘unusual’ or even ‘new’, despite its long-standing tradition.

Read more on this topic via our website https://ndan.com.au/resources/death-care/family-led-funerals

30/08/2026

What are the standards for natural burial in Australia?
A natural burial must:
▶ Be a single depth burial;
▶ Have only one body per plot;
▶ Have not more than one metre of soil above the body or container at the deepest point;
▶ Use a plant or protein-based material shroud or an eco-friendly biodegradable coffin;
▶ Not include any plastic unless it is compostable;
▶ Not include the use of an underground vault; and
▶ Require the body of the deceased to –
Only wear natural protein based or plant based materials;
Not have had chemical preparations or plastics used in preparation; and
Not be embalmed (exemptions in exceptional circumstances such as repatriation may apply) or having only been embalmed with non-toxic chemicals.

You can learn more about these standards and the NDAN Natural Burial Grounds who have committed to meeting NDAN’s requirements for natural burial practice via our website.

https://ndan.com.au/natural-burial-grounds-and-cemeteries/natural-burial-grounds

26/08/2026

NDAN Founder, Dr. Pia Interlandi, was invited to join the team at Clandon Wood Natural Burial reserve in Surrey UK. From site planning, grave digging, plant and wildlife maintenance, memorial markers and digital mapping through to grave selection with the terminally ill, dressing and encoffining the dead, funeral celebrancy and memorial events. Pia was involved in over 100 natural burials across Clandon Wood’s first year of operation.

24/08/2026

Do we have to use a funeral director to conduct a burial?

No! You do NOT have to use a funeral director, you can:

▪ keep a person at home after death
▪ take a body home from hospital, an Aged Care Facility or the coroner
▪ build your own coffin
▪ sew your own shroud
▪ dig and back-fill the grave (with cemetery permission)

Learn more via our website www.ndan.com.au

20/08/2026

At NDAN, our mission is to provide individuals, families and communities with professional, creative and informed assistance to choose meaningful, humane and ecological pathways at the end of life. In support of this, we hold regular events about covering many topics associated with Natural Death.

Checkout our website (www.ndan.com.au) for our upcoming events and join in for any event that interests you.

17/08/2026

NDAN Presents - How Mushrooms Are Changing the Way We Say Goodbye
We spend our lives trying to make a positive impact. Why should that stop when life ends?

In this inspiring talk, inventor Bob Hendrikx shares the unexpected story of how mushrooms inspired a new way of thinking about death. What began with a coffin grown from mycelium in just seven days has become a movement changing funerals and memorialisation around the world. Recognised by TIME as one of the Best Inventions, Loop is now active in 12 countries and has been chosen for more than 10,000 funerals and memorial moments. As Founder & CEO of Loop Biotech, Bob shares his mission to create products that help people say goodbye meaningfully while enriching the earth for future generations. Now, this movement is coming to Australia and New Zealand.

Bob Hendrikx is an award-winning inventor, architect and biodesigner pioneering a future where products are grown, not manufactured. From living homes and waste-eating objects to the world’s first mushroom coffin, his work explores how collaborating with nature can transform humans from a parasitic into a positive footprint species. As Founder & CEO of Loop Biotech, Bob turns science fiction into reality—creating regenerative products that enrich the planet instead of polluting it.

DATE - Friday 18-September 2026, 7PM - 8PM AEST

Book Now for this FREE event via https://shorturl.at/4yYr4

15/08/2026

NDAN is always taking new members.
By becoming a member you become an NDAN supporting advocate.

Your membership will directly help us to grow as a network and continue our advocacy efforts.

Members will receive discounts to any NDAN hosted events and courses, our bi-annually newsletter – with the opportunity to be profiled, use of the NDAN members logo, your events listed as member events on our website, a vote at the Annual General Meetings and a inclusion on our Members Directory!

We would love to have you on board.

If you are interested in becoming a member you can purchase an annual membership by selecting one of the Membership Plans via our website.
https://ndan.com.au/membership

12/08/2026

By becoming a NDAN member you become an Natural Death supporting advocate.
You join a growing network who provide professional, creative and informed assistance to choose meaningful, humane and ecological pathways at the end of life.

Learn more via our website www.ndan.com.au

09/08/2026

What are my options?

Knowing your options concerning dying and death is important, if not for you, then certainly for those who will be responsible for your care.

Download our fact sheet on this topic by visiting the FAQs on our website. (www.ndan.com.au)

05/08/2026

Last days to BOOK NOW for our next online event - The role of self care in a Compassionate Community

Based on his research into health promoting palliative care and compassionate communities, Jason Mills will discuss the role of self-care in a compassionate communities. During this event, Jason will also share insights into the science of compassion – including self-compassion – stemming from his studies and certification as a compassion educator through the Centre for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University.

The key focus of this session will be about understanding and integrating self-care into a compassionate community context.

Guest Speaker: Jason Mills is a Registered Nurse and Associate Professor of Palliative and End-of-Life Care at Flinders University. Through a positive education approach, his teaching and research situate compassion and self-compassion as positive emotions that help build a foundation for flourishing; with individual compassion literacy contributing to compassionate communities that transform everyday suffering in both personal and professional contexts.

Book now for this event via https://www.trybooking.com/DNUDS

Address

Melbourne, VIC

Telephone

0354273112

Website

http://ndan.com.au/

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