Sydney is at risk of running out of burial plots if the management of its public cemeteries is not sorted out by the new state government, a report has found.
The independent report into OneCrown, the organisation that manages Sydney's crown cemeteries, was handed to the Minns Government earlier this month and noted that if a decision was not made on its future, the government would not be able to meet the burial needs of Sydney residents.
Four crown cemetery land managers, including Southern, Northern, Rookwood and Rookwood Necropolis, now known as OneCrown, have been overseen by an administrator since May 2021, though they do not operate as a single entity.
The report by O'Connor Marsden and Associates noted that key investment and organisational decisions could not be taken in the absence of a government decision.
"A decision is required to be made on the future of OneCrown," the report said.
"Delay will further inhibit the ability of OneCrown to realise its strategic objectives and potentially increase the risk that the Crown may not be able to adequately provide for the burial needs of residents of Sydney and surrounding areas into the future."
It follows a 2020 independent report that found some Sydney cemeteries, including Rookwood, Botany, Field of Mars and Macquarie Park, would need to close within three years.
The latest report noted that the uncertainty about whether the land managers would be amalgamated was impacting on investment and staff morale.
A third of OneCrown staff had left in the last 12 months, with the delay on a decision on amalgamation a key reason for low morale, the report noted.
The new NSW government said in a statement that two years of indecision and infighting by the previous government was to blame for the risk Sydney would run out of cemetery space.
The government is recruiting for the role of administrator and will move towards a two public operator model for Sydney crown cemeteries.
"I am looking forward to working collaboratively with OneCrown to deliver much needed burial services to the people of NSW across all faith groups," Minister for Lands and Property Steve Kamper said.
Failure to consolidate blamed for 'critical challenges'
Former senior staff have told the ABC that more than a dozen executives have left OneCrown since it was created.
The chief executive officer has left and there is currently no-one in the role.
OneCrown administrator Lee Shearer declined to comment on the report.
The 2020 report, The 11th Hour — Solving Sydney's Cemetery Crisis, found that public cemeteries in Sydney would close to new burials in a decade.
Consolidating the four cemetery land managers was a key recommendation.
Tim Scott, author of The 11th Hour report, and director of strategy and business innovation at OneCrown from May last year until February, said the former government should have consolidated the four entities.
"Critically, the failure to consolidate the four entities has led to the critical challenges that the sector now faces, which is impacting literally thousands of families across Sydney," he said.
For some Sydney communities, the shortage of burial space is more acute.
Matt Riley, Rookwood regional head of operations, said last week the remaining land at Rookwood could fill up in as little as two years.
"For particular faith groups, such as the Jewish, Muslim and Orthdox communities, its particularly significant that they are buried in-ground, as part of that faith and that really impacts how much land we have left for these communities," he said.
