Grave concern has been raised over council-approved "paranormal investigation" tours at Ipswich General Cemetery, west of Brisbane.
Visitors are charged up to $70 each to explore allegedly haunted sites, "armed with devices custom made for ghost hunting", as part of a historic ghost tour.
Two historians say the activity is disrespectful and are demanding Ipswich City Council ban ghost hunting at its cemeteries, like the Brisbane City Council has done.
Historian Tracey Olivieri has been employed previously to map the cemetery.
"On a lot of these headstones, it does say 'R.I.P' — it would be nice if they're just left to rest in peace," Ms Olivieri said.
Ms Olivieri has family buried at the cemetery.
"Our first ancestor to Ipswich came in 1842, so it's a very special place to me," she said.
'Tawdry commercial exercise'
Chris Dawson, a professional historian for 20 years, said paranormal investigations had no place on cemetery tours.
"These are places of history, love, memory and not for this kind of tawdry commercial exercise," Mr Dawson said.
He is petitioning the council to "stop the desecration" of the cemetery, after a paranormal investigation was held there last Saturday night.
An Ipswich City Council spokesperson confirmed Ghost Tours Australia had a permit to operate the "historic ghost tour", including a "1.5-hour paranormal investigation feature".
"The applicant has, to date, operated within the terms and conditions of the permit, which was approved by council," a spokesperson for the council said.
Ghost Tours Australia owner Jack Sim has been running tours since 1998.
He said the investigations were "polite" and the devices used "benign".
"There's no attempt to actually try and channel a ghost or make a ghost enter somebody or speak to the beyond," Mr Sim said.
"It's just to basically try and detect if there are any around."
Mr Sim said devices included an electromagnetic field meter, a "spirit box" designed to pick up radio waves, and a temperature gauge.
He said some people might find the paranormal investigations disrespectful, but he had never received a complaint from a member of the public.
"I have my own family buried in Ipswich cemetery," Mr Sim said.
Ghost-hunting devices placed on graves
The paranormal investigation component of the tours are outsourced to a volunteer group called Pariah Paranormal.
Photos deleted from the group's Facebook page show gadgets including an electromagnetic field (EMF) meter and "trap" placed on graves at Goodna Cemetery at Ipswich.
One grave belongs to a person who died on Halloween in 2020.
ABC News has chosen not to publish the images out of respect to their family.
Mr Sim said he was unaware of that activity and would consider it disrespectful.
"What I asked [Pariah Paranormal] to do is different to what they may do themselves for their own events," Mr Sim said.
"I do not believe in spirit boards, Ouija boards, things like that."
Ms Olivieri said the photos left her speechless.
"These graves are still being visited by the family — it is still painful for a lot of these families," she said.
Pariah Paranormal declined to speak to the ABC but said on Facebook they prided themselves on being respectful and professional.
The Goodna Cemetery Trust did not respond to several requests for comment.
'Witch hunt'
Mr Sim accused Mr Dawson and Ms Olivieri of trying to undermine his business, pointing to the fact they also run tours at cemeteries in Brisbane and Ipswich as part of historical societies.
"I do think it's a witch hunt," Mr Sim said.
Mr Dawson and Ms Olivieri said their tours were "not for profit" and they volunteered their time.
Mr Sim said American television shows about 'ghost busting' had sparked interest in paranormal investigations.
"[People] just want to see if they can do it for themselves," he said.
Mr Sim said paranormal enthusiasts would enter cemeteries regardless of his tours and that his "investigations" provided safety, respect and structure.
He added the presence of his tour groups acted as a deterrent to vandals.
Ghost hunting banned in Brisbane
Ghost Tours Australia also runs tours at Brisbane City Council cemeteries but without the paranormal element.
"Brisbane City Council doesn't permit ghost hunting or paranormal investigations," a spokesperson confirmed.
"We do have an agreement with the same company, but that is for ghost tours that focus on history and storytelling."
Ipswich City Council said it had approved another paranormal investigation tour scheduled in November.
Mr Dawson is urging Ipswich City Council to follow Brisbane's lead in banning that part of the tour.
"[Ipswich General Cemetery] is a very important historical site," Mr Dawson said.
"That is undermined when you're pretending it's haunted for money — it really does take away from the history."
