Application

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to address the specific needs of funeral and memorial ceremonies as a celebrant. It requires the ability to liaise with funeral industry personnel, and to develop, present and evaluate personalised ceremonies.
This unit applies to celebrants.
The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State/Territory legislation, Australian/New Zealand Standards and industry codes of practice.

What You'll Learn

Assessment Requirements

Performance Evidence

The candidate must show evidence of the ability to complete tasks outlined in elements and performance criteria of this unit, manage tasks and manage contingencies in the context of the job role. There must be evidence that the candidate has:
• planned, and evaluated at least 4 different ceremonies, including both funerals and memorials
• written and evaluated at least 4 eulogies
• presented funeral or memorial ceremonies using presentation techniques suited to those ceremonies for at least 2 of the following situations, including the delivery of at least 1 eulogy
• death of a young person
• an unexpected accidental death
• an older person.

Knowledge Evidence

The candidate must be able to demonstrate essential knowledge required to effectively complete tasks outlined in elements and performance criteria of this unit, manage tasks and manage contingencies in the context of the work role. This includes knowledge of:
• legal and ethical considerations for the conduct of funeral and memorial ceremonies, and how these apply in individual practice
• codes of practice, including professional funeral services industry parameters and protocols in dealing with the bereaved and the deceased
• duty of care
• privacy, confidentiality and disclosure
• records management
• work role boundaries – responsibilities and limitations
• funeral celebrant role in the ceremony and civil celebrant role in providing an inclusive ceremony
• roles and responsibilities of funeral services personnel and external contractors and agencies and working within these
• potential differences between the celebrant’s role in funerals and memorial services
• history, current practices and changing attitudes to dying and death care in Australia
• physiology of dying and death – basic processes and time frames
• the process of how a person is treated from the point of death until burial or care/dispersal of their remains/ashes, if the body is cremated, and relationship with the celebrant’s involvement
• social, religious and cultural differences and traditions that impact on funeral and memorial ceremonies, including
• burial and interment
• disposal of human remains
• traditions related to loss and grief
• historical, current and emerging options that families have for
• preparing for and dealing with death
• place and timing of the ceremony
• disposal of the body
• challenges in working with bereaved families and friends and defence mechanisms of the bereaved, differing perceptions and experiences of the deceased, dealing with unfinished business, offering support and hope whilst honouring the loss and grief of the bereaved, for both close family, friends and others
• different structures and features of funeral and memorial ceremonies, including
• burial
• interment
• cremation
• entombment
• placing or scattering of ashes
• committal style
• types of practical considerations for funeral ceremonies, including
• potential time restrictions and options
• venue constraints and options
• requirements for communication with funeral services personnel
• resources used when conducting funeral/memorial ceremonies to bring consciousness to the sense of loss and thankfulness for the life lived
• poetry and prose (secular and religious)
• the placing of special personal effects with the deceased
• photographs
• use of music
• audiovisual
• choice and placement of flowers
• use of lighting
• placement of candles
• inclusion of other speakers or readers
• ceremony programs
• ways to use the ceremony to celebrate and honour the life of the deceased
• public speaking and presentation techniques, and how these may be used and adapted for funeral and memorial services
• role and importance of evaluation, including:
• how to incorporate evaluation into practice
• techniques for obtaining feedback from clients
• techniques and process for self-evaluation
• importance of self-care, and self-care strategies.

Assessment Conditions

Skills must have been demonstrated in the workplace or in a simulated environment that reflects workplace conditions. The following conditions must be met for this unit:
• use of suitable facilities, equipment and resources, including information about the deceased
• modelling of industry operating conditions, including groups of people to whom the ceremony/memorial is delivered.
Assessors must satisfy the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015/AQTF mandatory competency requirements for assessors.

Foundation Skills

• {'skill': 'Foundation Skills', 'description': 'The Foundation Skills describe those required skills (language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills) that are essential to performance.\nFoundation skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit of competency.'}

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