From the CEO

It was wonderful to see so many AFDA Members and corporate partners come together from all over Australia for the first time in three years at the AFDA National Convention at Hotel Realm in Canberra.

The Convention was a great success and enjoyed by all in attendance. The education sessions and social events were terrific, and our Keynote Speaker Dr Susan Alberti AC was inspirational, informative and had a message for all of us as to how we choose to live our lives. Thank you to the AFDA staff who worked tirelessly leading up to and during the Convention, and to the National Executive of Adrian Barrett, Kelly Scott, Asha Dooley and James MacLeod for taking on the MC roles as required.

It was also a time when the National Presidency changed over, and the heartfelt speeches alone were worthy of attending Convention. Well done and thank you to Adrian Barrett, William Barrett & Sons who it has been a pleasure to work so closely with during the past two years. We achieved a great deal together; Adrian was a wonderful representative for AFDA in the media, and it was never too much trouble for Adrian to offer the support and guidance the

AFDA management and staff required during this time.

We welcome Kelly Scott, T J Scott & Son to the National Presidency and already we have inundated Kelly with numerous projects and industry issues to address during her time leading the AFDA. No doubt Kelly will handle these, and the many challenges to come, very admirably.

There were two areas of particular focus during several presentations at the 2023 AFDA Convention. Education and training, as well as attracting and retaining staff. This has been the message we have been hearing from members for some time now via our member surveys and research conducted by McCrindle Research.

Allyson Fletcher from Key Business Advisors presented on attracting and retaining staff and the importance of good culture within an organisation. Mark McCrindle from McCrindle Research discussed the findings from the three Funeral Trends reports as well as presenting ‘A snapshot of Australia towards 2030’ at the 2023 AFDA Convention.

Mark also presented on the ongoing care AFDA Members provide to the families whose loved ones they care for, which is the focus of the third Funeral Industry Trends Report – The community impact of funeral organisations. These are important findings to promote to the media and government to help them better understand that the funeral industry is not nine to five, and the ongoing care provided by the funeral industry for those grieving a loved one goes on well beyond the day of the funeral.

The third report was released in late December via our eNews and a printed version will also be provided to members. The third report follows on from the second – The valuable contribution of the Australian funeral industry and its staff – which focussed on the challenges faced by funeral staff and families during COVID-19, and the first report – How we farewell the ones we love – which focussed on trends within the funeral industry.

As part of the education and training focus, Roddy McKinnon presented on the Funeral Learning Hub. This online education portal is already in operation in New Zealand and the United Kingdom and the AFDA National Council supports the introduction of the Funeral Learning Hub to AFDA Members also. The implementation of the Funeral Learning Hub will come as an additional cost to members, but when spread across the entire AFDA membership, the fee is nominal, and all going to plan, it will lift the standards of our members staff and businesses and assist in attracting and retaining staff.

From an operational perspective, a new staff member will join AFDA in the coming weeks and be based in NSW/ACT or Queensland to better support our members in those Divisions. Statutory Declarations are moving to online through the member portal on the AFDA website and are expected to go live soon. Thank you to members who continue to complete their Premises, Equipment and Vehicle information online. The review of this information will commence shortly.

It has been an exciting start to 2023 and I look forward to seeing many more members at the state based events in the coming months.

Dale Gilson

It is only through the longstanding loyal support of Funeral Directors’ Associations and their members that we have been able to negotiate products that would simply not be available on an individual basis. By working together, Funeral Directors are now able to command levels of protection and premium c ompetitiveness that they could not hop e to achieve on their own.

To find out more about your industry insurance scheme, please contact Colleen Whyte.