Who To Notify When Someone Dies

You will need to notify various organisations that your loved one passed away.

Think about all the organisations that they were connected to, and notify them.

What Information to Provide

When notifying someone of your loved one’s death, give them these details:

• Their full name
• Other names they were known by
• Date of death
• Date of birth
• Their residential address
• Any relevant membership number, client number or account number for bills, banking or government organisation

You should also tell them your name, your relationship to the deceased person and how the organisation can contact you if they have any questions.

The organisation may require a death certificate, or a certified copy of it.

Australian Death Notification Service

The Australian Death Notification Service is a government service that allows people to notify a range of businesses and service providers about a person’s death at the one time.

You will need your loved one’s full name, date of birth, date of death, State/Territory in which they died and full residential address

At this stage, it’s only limited to a few organisations such as:

• Banks - ANZ, Bank of Melbourne, Bank SA, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, St. George Westpac
• Phone & internet - Optus, Telstra, Vodafone
• Energy and Water - Energy Australia, Kogan Energy, Powershop, Simply Energy, Sydney Water
• NSW Trustee and Guardian

Removing Someone From The Electoral Roll

When someone passes away, it is important to have them removed from the electoral roll. Thankfully, the Births, Deaths and Marriages department of your State will usually inform the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) of the death, and the AEC will in turn have them removed from the roll.

If for whatever reason Births, Deaths and Marriages do not inform the AEC, you can inform them at this link.

ATO Initial Notification

What is an Unofficial Death Notification?

An unofficial death notification advises the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) that your loved one has passed away.

It stops mail being issued until official the notification of death (discussed later), to make sure no valuable information is lost.

You can phone the ATO on 13 28 61 to give an unofficial notification of a death. However, only an authorised person or next of kin can give notice.

You may need to lodge more documents with the ATO (discussed in later steps) to get more information and sort their tax affairs.

List of Places to Contact

Here is list of of places you might need to contact:

• Australian Electoral Commission
• Australian Taxation Office
• Banks and credit unions
• Centrelink (notification shared with Child Support Agency and Medicare)
• Child Support Agency (notification shared with Centrelink and Medicare)
• Clubs (e.g sporting clubs)
• Credit card
• Department of Veterans’ Affairs
• Educational institutions such as school, TAFE or university
• Employers
• Foreign pension authority. If the authority’s details are unknown, contact Centrelink’s International Services
• Funeral Insurer, bond provider or pre-paid plan
• Nursing home/aged care facility
• Health benefits fund
• Health professionals, such as doctor, dentist, physiotherapist
• Hearing centre
• Hospital
• Insurance companies
• Landlord, tenants
• Local council
• Local post office
• Medicare: (notification shared with Centrelink and Child Support Agency)
• Prepaid funeral insurer
• Professional services used, Eg lawyer, accountant, financial advisor, insurance broker
• Public services such as library and state authorities
• Public Trustee
• Religious advisor
• Social worker
• Superannuation fund
• Telecommunication providers such as phones, internet
• Utility providers such as gas, electricity and phone companies
• Vehicle registration and licensing authorities

This list is compiled from information provided by Australian Government Services Australia.