Arabic version: تحقيق يكشف قبوراً جماعية غير معلَّمة في نيو ساوث ويلز

According to The Guardian, more than 100 unmarked graves in New South Wales, and some in Queensland, have been used by state governments for people considered unable to afford funerals, including Vietnam war veterans, rough sleepers and other impoverished Australians.

The investigation found that at Rookwood cemetery in Sydney, the NSW government has buried four to six strangers together in communal graves in bare areas between dirt walkways and old headstones. In the first half of this year, more than 40 people were buried along a 17-metre stretch beside a dirt path, with no marking indicating the graves.

Guardian Australia identified at least six cases in which authorities did not contact, or did not tell, relatives, friends or support workers about unmarked common graves. It also identified 18 people in communal graves who had experienced homelessness. Chantel Dubsky said her brother, Roger Davies, was buried with four strangers at Rookwood without her knowledge.

Two Royal Australian Navy Vietnam war veterans were buried in unmarked communal graves in 2024 and 2025, despite a federal Department of Veterans’ Affairs program that can help fund funerals for impoverished veterans. The department said it had not been approached for funding for those burials and had not been asked to help fund destitute burials since 2020.

NSW Health apologised, saying people without the financial means for a funeral had not always been treated with dignity and respect. It said it changed processes in 2025, including establishing a six-person team within NSW Health Pathology to seek alternative funeral arrangements and support. Health minister Ryan Park described the previous failings as “unacceptable”.