Australian Story: June 20

On Monday’s Australian Story, an episode filmed over 10 months looks at how some in the funeral industry seek to effect change.

“Funerals are one-off events and they can be not good or they can be absolutely transformational. Why not go for the absolutely transformational?” – Jenny Briscoe-Hough

Community leader Jenny Briscoe-Hough is changing the way we do death in Australia. Six years ago, with a group of community volunteers, Jenny founded Tender Funerals, a not-for-profit funeral service in Port Kembla, and is now supporting the establishment of other ‘franchises’ around the country.

Tender’s mission is to provide personalised and affordable funerals, demystifying the funeral process and putting it back in the hands of the grieving.

Amy Sagar joined Tender as funeral director at just 24, having worked in the industry since her teens. She encourages the bereaved to spend time with the body of their loved one, seeing this as a vital part of the grieving process.

“It’s quite an honour to be able to look after someone after they’ve died,” she tells Australian Story. “I want to see the funeral industry change. I want to see having access to the body as a really normal thing.”

Filmed over 10 months, this episode follows the experiences of people who used Tender to look after their deceased loved one, providing an extraordinarily intimate view of a world we rarely get to see.

Producer: Olivia Rousset

8pm Monday on ABC.