NDAN - Natural Death Advocacy Network

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NDAN - Natural Death Advocacy Network

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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.

08/10/2026

In Australia, ‘voluntary assisted dying’ is an end-of-life option available to people who meet a set of eligibility criteria as set out by the State in which they live. It is a way of dying that allows a person to seek medical assistance to end their life.

What is voluntary assisted dying?

Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) refers to a legal process in which a person, with the support of medical professionals, chooses to end their life at a time of their own choosing. In other parts of the world, medical practices similar to VAD are known by other terms including physician-assisted su***de, active voluntary euthanasia, physician-assisted death, and medical assistance in dying (MAiD). Unlike other end-of-life medical treatments aimed at relieving pain and managing symptoms, the purpose of Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) is to allow a person to intentionally and legally bring about their death.

Who is eligible for voluntary assisted dying?

Access to Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) is governed by state-specific legislation in Australia, and the eligibility requirements can vary depending on where you live. Generally, an adult (aged 18 or over) must be assessed by at least two independent medical practitioners and meet several eligibility criteria set out in their state’s laws.

Visit our website for more information on this topic and further reference contacts.
Head to Resources > End Of Life Planning > End Of Life & Palliative Care to find the links to Voluntary Assisted
https://ndan.com.au/resources/voluntary-assisted-dying

06/10/2026

Australian Home Funeral Alliance in conjunction with Social Health Australia and Death Literacy Institute are presenting another round of workshops.
Check the link for more details!
Canberra (Act), Sydney (Nsw), Gold Coast (Qld), Blue Mountains (Nsw), Waratah (Tas), Cygnet (Tas)...
https://www.ahfa.org.au/education/workshops

05/10/2026

Have you booked yet?

Six Feet Greener: Real stories of choosing natural burial, from the ground up.
Why do people choose a natural burial — and what is it really like? Across Australia, more families are choosing natural burial over conventional options. But why? What actually happens at a natural burial? How do people feel during and after the experience? And, perhaps most importantly — would they choose it again?

In this session, we explore the real reasons people step toward a simpler, more connected way of laying their person to rest.

Fiona Mccuaig (Walawaani Way, NSW) and Heidi Grieg (Yacca Creeks Memorial Reserve, SA) are managers and operators of Natural and Conservation Burial Grounds that align with NDAN’s National Standards of Natural Burial, and Natural Burial Code of Conduct. Together, they bring deep practical experience, community stories, and a shared commitment to reshaping how Australians think about death, care, and the land we return to.

Listen to real experiences from those at the frontier of a cultural shift — one that is changing how we bury, how we grieve, and how we imagine our own final place in the world.

Fiona McCuaig has volunteered and worked for a number of marine conservation and environmental organisations throughout her property career. She has a Bachelor of Economics from Sydney University and a Master of Property at UTS.
After moving down from Sydney to the South Coast of NSW in 2016 she started the journey of establishing Australia’s first 100% natural and conservation burial ground – inspired by a documentary called Will for Woods where an Australian documentary maker called Amy Browne followed a man in America who was dying of cancer and his pursuit of finding a natural burial ground. Fiona says “It seemed like the best way to protect habitat for wildlife and also provide a beautiful place to visit loved ones, a gift to the planet.”

Heidi Grieg has worn many hats in her working life: nurse, Auslan interpreter, teacher, and counsellor for rural youth. Tired of the endless treadmill of outsourcing services to the mainland, Heidi saw a deep need to bring death care back into the community’s embrace – and founded KI Doula Services in response to the existential crisis that was all around her. After further study with Griffith University, and intensive training as an end-of-doula and holistic funeral director, Heidi now works closely with the palliative care team at the Kangaroo Island Community Health Service, specialising in home death care and family lead funerals on private land in SA. In response to community demand, she quietly manages a private conservation burial ground on the remote western end of Kangaroo Island and is thrilled to be involved in NDAN, an organisation she sees are clearly leading the change in Australia.

Book - https://www.trybooking.com/DPOMX

DATE - Tuesday 20-October 2026, 6.30PM - 8.30PM AEDT

02/10/2026

Please join us in Welcoming Renée King to the NDAN Committee. Renée has taken on the role of Secretary.

Renée is an emerging death worker who currently works as communications professional. With a background in public health and experience working in not-for-profit organisations in the medical sector, she specialises in communications and engagement; helping to make complex and sensitive topics easier to understand.

Her deep respect for, and curiosity about, death, dying and grief has grown through training, volunteering and community engagement. She is a licensed Grief First Aid instructor and has undertaken end-of-life doula and deathwalker training. While living in the UK, she volunteered with Cruse Bereavement Support in co-facilitating online bereavement sessions.

Renée is particularly interested in the language we use when talking about death, dying and grief, and in how the words and stories we use can shape the way we understand these experiences. She is passionate about creating spaces for more open and human conversations about death, and helping people feel more informed and comfortable exploring their choices around the end of life.

Outside of her work in this space, Renée is happiest near the ocean. A scuba diver and longtime lover of coastal places, she spent several years living in Lofoten in northern Norway and exploring the Portuguese coast while based in Lisbon. She is looking forward to spending more time by the water in her upcoming travels around Australia (once her van is kitted out!).

29/09/2026

What is an End of Life doula?

An end of life or ‘death’ doula’s role is to provide non-medicalised support, resources, and options to people with a life-limiting condition, or those planning for, or approaching end of life.

Download our fact sheet via our website - link in our bio, then head to FAQs to download "What is a end of life doula?"

26/09/2026

The NDAN Talks podcast focuses on the many and varied talents, skills, and passions of the membership of the Natural Death Advocacy Network.

Head to our website (https://ndan.com.au/ndan-talks) to scroll through the available episodes and enjoy listening.

We are open to hearing from you if you have a topic to share with our community, send us an email via [email protected]

23/09/2026

NDAN is an acronym for Natural Death Advocacy Network.

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 Vision - 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.

Our Mission - We provide individuals, families and communities with professional, creative and informed assistance to choose meaningful, humane and ecological pathways at the end of life.

So, whichever platform you use - be sure to give us a follow so we can reach more people who are interested in being part of or accessing a natural death.

20/09/2026

Who is NDAN?

NDAN is an acronym for Natural Death Advocacy Network.

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 Vision
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.

Our Mission
We provide individuals, families and communities with professional, creative and informed assistance to choose meaningful, humane and ecological pathways at the end of life.

Learn more about our work and organisation by visiting our website www.ndan.com.au

17/09/2026

BOOK NOW for 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

14/09/2026

Alkaline Hydrolysis (AH), also known as water cremation, uses water, high heat, and alkaline chemicals to accelerate the natural breakdown of tissues. This chemical reduction process transforms organic and protein-based materials into a liquid form.

There are different approaches to alkaline hydrolysis which include both pressurised machines that use high temperatures, and unpressurised machines operating at lower or atmospheric temperatures. In the USA, two main companies provide this technology—Bio-Response and Resomation. Although it is relatively new, it is a proven, operational technology, and represents a disruptive innovation to the funeral industry.

Alkaline Hydrolysis is known by several names, including flameless cremation, water cremation, Resomation, and Aquamation. In the USA it is currently legal in over 20 states.

In the Alkaline Hydrolysis (AH) process, a shrouded (or naked) body is placed in a chamber filled with a solution of water and alkali. During the process, organic tissues break down, leaving behind the bones and any artificial materials—such as titanium hips or knees. The bones are then processed into a fine powder, similar in appearance to flame cremation ashes or cremains, and returned to the family. These remains can be kept, scattered, placed in a columbarium, or buried.

To learn more about this process, please visit our website (www.ndan.com.au) and head to the resources page.

Address

Melbourne, VIC

Telephone

0354273112

Website

http://ndan.com.au/

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