Funerals in the Illawarra are being live-streamed to give mourners the option of how they want to pay their respects amid the COVID-19 crisis.
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Hansen and Cole regional manager Warwick Hansen said the world had changed quickly during this unprecedented time and funeral directors were doing everything they could to still allow people to mourn.
"I have been in this industry 53 years and I have never seen anything like this before. But we have to remain calm and help each other through this," he said.
"The important thing for funeral directors to do is to talk to families and give them options".
Mr Hansen said no two funerals were the same and Hansen and Cole staff were ensuring each families experiencing the loss of a loved one get to choose from every possible option.
"We already have streaming facilities and regularly stream funerals to family overseas and people who can't make it to the service for whatever reason.
"We don't charge any extra. Many churches and other locations where funerals are held now also have live streaming facilities"
For those who do want to attend a funeral to say farewell in person, venues and churches are limited to 100 people inside but with the new restrictions can still have a larger number outside.
"At Kembla Grange we are well set up for that and up to 400 can assemble outside the building," Mr Hansen said.
Screens, speakers and live streaming allow everyone to stand a safe distance from each other to hear and see the service.
Mr Hansen said the virus situation and advice from the government was changing almost daily but he and other funeral directors would endeavour to update their websites with the latest information.
"We will do all we can to help families through this," he said.
"Their personal health and safety is absolutely paramount. And the health and safety of our own staff is paramount.
"We do have handwash readily available. We are trying to help in the best way possible we can and safety first must be paramount".
Mr Hansen said many venues and funeral directors are looking at their audio visual systems to see if they can be improved for live streaming and outside broadcasting.
"A lot of the churches have streaming capability but we are also contacting contractors at the moment to see what services we can get to bring into churches that don't - obviously with their permission".
Mr Hansen said it was hard to say whether numbers were down at funerals since the coronavirus outbreak because every funeral is different.
He said all funeral directors, churches and venues were doing the best they can for everyone wanting to mourn the loss of someone important to them.
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- Unusual times call for unusual measures even at church
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Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
