Places of Care Designed for the Community
We believe that every person, regardless of their religion, culture or personal preference, should be able to honour and celebrate their loved one as they choose. Our locations encourage reflection and have been designed to be a quiet sanctuary for families and friends to come together and share their lives.
Our grounds are open year-round and offer the public a variety of convenient recreational options including walking (dogs welcome), running and cycling within the hundreds of acres of manicured lawns and gardens.
We recognise the importance of creating safe and sacred places for remembering that compliment our modern faced paced world. Whether strolling through Springvale Botanical Cemeteries famous rose gardens or enjoy a picnic overlooking Bunurong Memorial Park's contemporary Australian parkland, our location offers something for the whole community. For the more courageous visitor looking for something unique, experience Melbourne General Cemeteries night tours by flashlight.
Complimenting the surrounding natural environment a host of original artworks and sculptures express our pride, care and investment in creating spaces for future generations.
Our team work around the year to keep our grounds and facilities in pristine condition for all to enjoy. The teams consist of outdoor employees, who cover horticulture, grave-digging and general maintenance.
Managing our gardens
Our properties are dedicated to recycling and green technologies. All our organic waste is recycled on-site and reused within the cemetery for garden bed preparation.
Several of our properties have large catchment dams, along with utilising rainwater tank facilities across all sites, meaning we can take full advantage of inclement weather. Our water quality management plan with Melbourne Water includes gross pollution traps, which ensures that all run-offs into the bay are of excellent quality. All our amenities, facilities and cemetery taps make use of potable water.
Specialist employees
We have a close relationship with TAFE for in-house and external horticultural training, which ensures our horticulture employees are specialists.
Over the past ten years, six SMCT staff have received a total of eight awards including Outstanding Apprentice of the Year at their level, and the much-coveted award of "Outstanding Student of the Year Holmesglen Parks and Gardens".
Your responsibilities
All public cemetery land is crown land, meaning that when you purchase a grave or memorial location, you are not purchasing the land, but purchasing rights to inter on crown land.
It is you and your family's responsibility to maintain the monument, headstone or plaque in perpetuity while the cemetery is responsible for maintaining the grounds.
Tenure on Cremation Memorials
Over the years cremation memorials have been sold with varying tenure periods. The dates below outline the changes that have occurred.
Before 24 August 1955
All memorials were sold in perpetuity (for all time).
24 August 1955 – 31 December 1975
Trees, Wall Niches and Ground Niches were sold with a 50-year tenure.
Shrubs and Roses were sold with a 25-year tenure.
From 1 January 1976, 25 year tenure periods commenced from the date of purchase for all cremation memorials. From 5 June 1998 Perpetuity (for all time) available as an option for all existing and new cremation memorials.
If you have any questions regarding the tenure of a memorial please feel free to contact us or call our Customer Care Team on 8558 8278.