Funeral directors are warning that some have "run out of room" for bodies because of COVID-related staff shortages at crematoriums and cemeteries.
Rowan Steer, manager of Integrity Funerals on the Gold Coast, said businesses were being forced to move bodies into the care of competitors as staff isolated, forcing families to wait up to two weeks for funeral services.
Mr Steer said close contact isolation requirements and a lack of accessible rapid tests were causing the industry "a high level of stress".
The industry is asking for changes to their isolation rules for funeral, mortuary, crematorium, and cemetery services.
The Australian Funeral Directors Association (AFDA) is calling for the Queensland government to "urgently" classify them as critical workers.
Queensland remains the only state not to consider funeral workers exempt from close contact requirements, meaning staff exposed to COVID-19 must quarantine for seven days.
Last week the government announced the addition of other industries to its limited critical industries list, including broadcast and fisheries.
Mr Steer said "urgent" changes were needed.
"We have written to the health department and we are seeking for them to give us critical worker status," he said.
Mr Steer said the funeral and crematorium industries were facing "big problems".
No room for the dead
Mr Steer said there had been long delays finding burial places and further delays if staff could not provide funeral services.
"Most funerals get underway in two or three days after the person has passed away," he said.
He said the lack of staff has had flow-on effects.
"I've had recent requests from other funeral directors to care for their deceased because they've simply run out of room because of the delays and shortages of staff," he said.
RAT shortages added stress
Mr Steer said a lack of rapid antigen tests (RATs) on the Gold Coast was adding to the pressure of getting staff back to work.
He said the industry had called for priority testing.
"To have a staff member who is self-isolating and requires a RAT test, you simply can't get them," he said.
"We've had them on back order for two or three weeks."
He said staff were torn between delivering sensitive services or taking precautionary time off.
"Our staff are concerned about when we are dealing with families with COVID cases, that our staff could be taking it home to their own families," Mr Steer said.
