(1) Codes of practice may be developed and approved by the Cemeteries Agency on its own initiative or in collaboration with all or any participants in the interment industry, or one or more sectors of the interment industry, for the purpose of providing guidance on any interment matter or other matter encompassed by the objects of this Act.
(1) The Cemeteries Agency may give the operator of a cemetery a notice under this subsection (a preliminary notice ) if:
(a) the Cemeteries Agency believes on reasonable grounds that this Act or the regulations or a provision of an interment industry scheme have been, or are being, contravened in relation to the cemetery, and (b) the contravention is not an offence against this Act or the regulations.
(1) If a cemetery operator revokes the perpetual interment right for an interment site the former holder of that interment right is entitled to one or other of the following at the election of the cemetery operator (but no other compensation or entitlement with respect to the revocation):
(a) to be granted a perpetual interment right for an alternative interment site in the same cemetery (and, if available, in the same general location) as the original interment site, (b) to be paid by the cemetery operator, by way of compensation, an amount equal to half of the fee payable (as provided by the cemetery operator’s current scale of fees) for the granting of a perpetual interment right for an alternative interment site in the same cemetery (and, if available, in the same general location) as the original interment site. (2) If there is no alternative interment site available, or if there is no applicable scale of fees, the amount of compensation referred to in subsection (1) (b) is to be half of the fee payable for the granting of an interment right under the most recent applicable scale of fees, varied in proportion to any variation in the Consumer Price Index (All Groups Index) for Sydney that has occurred between the date on which that scale was established and the date of revocation of the interment right. (3) A cemetery operator must ensure that any report on its accounts contains an estimate of its contingent liability with respect to any interment rights it has revoked.
(1) Grant of right for initial term A cemetery operator, on application and payment of the appropriate fee may grant to one person (or to two or more persons as joint holders) a renewable interment right in relation to a specified interment site in the cemetery:
(a) for the interment of human remains of the person or persons to whom the right relates after they have been cremated ( cremated remains )—for an initial term of up to 99 years commencing on the day it is granted, and(b) for the interment of human remains (other than cremated remains) of the person or persons to whom the right relates—for an initial term of 25 years commencing on the day it is granted. (2) A renewable interment right must not be granted in a portion of a cemetery consecrated for use by a religious or cultural group that requires perpetual interment. (3) Renewal of right on application The cemetery operator, on application and payment of the appropriate fee:
(a) must renew an interment right that is due to expire within 12 months for a further consecutive term of at least 5 years that when aggregated with the initial term and any further terms of renewal does not exceed 99 years, and (b) may, if the application is made on or after an interment of the human remains of a person to whom the right relates, renew that right for a further consecutive term of at least 5 years agreed with the holder of the right that when aggregated with the initial term and any further terms of renewal does not exceed 99 years, (c) must, if the application is made within 6 months after the day on which an interment of the human remains of a person to whom the right relates occurs, renew that interment right for a further consecutive term of at least 5 years that when aggregated with the initial term and any further terms of renewal does not exceed 99 years.
(1) Subject to this section and the regulations, if a renewable interment right in respect of an interment site expires, the cemetery operator may at the end of the period of 2 years after it expires do the following:
(a) re-use the interment site to which the renewable interment right related, (b) remove any memorial to a deceased person erected on or at the site. (2) A cemetery operator must not re-use an interment site or remove any memorial to a deceased person on an interment site unless:
(a) the cemetery operator has sought the advice (if any) required by section 69 (2) of the heritage advisory committee for the cemetery concerned, and (b) the cemetery operator has given notice of its intention to re-use the interment site or remove the memorial in the Gazette and in a newspaper circulating throughout the State, and (c) the cemetery operator has taken reasonable steps to give notice of its intention to re-use the interment site or remove the memorial to the holder of the interment right and each person (if any) shown in the relevant cemetery operator’s register as a secondary contact with respect to the holder listed in the cemetery operator’s register, and (d) in the case of the removal of a memorial—the cemetery operator has taken reasonable steps to give notice of the steps that the person can take to reclaim the memorial.
(1) A cemetery operator may grant an interment right in respect of an interment site in a cemetery.
(1) A trust board:
(a) must establish:
(i) a finance committee, and (ii) an audit and risk committee, and (iii) a community advisory committee to liaise with communities to which the trust board provides cemetery services, and (b) may establish any other committee as it determines from time to time.
(1) An authorised officer may serve an infringement notice on a person if the authorised officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person has contravened a civil penalty provision. (2) An infringement notice is a notice to the effect that, if the person served does not wish to have the matter determined by the Local Court, the person can pay, within the time and to the person specified in the notice, the amount of penalty specified in the notice. (3) The penalty to be specified in an infringement notice relating to an alleged contravention of a civil penalty provision must be a pecuniary penalty equal to one-fifth of the maximum civil penalty that the Local Court could impose on the person for that contravention.
(Section 16)