Research and Renew

Ensuring the Future | Honouring the Past

Karrakatta continues to be the chosen resting place for many Western Australians. It is Perth's most prominent, centrally-located cemetery, and has been for generations. To ensure Karrakatta continues to serve the WA community, now and in the future, we must continue to make new spaces available.

Karrakatta was initially expected to be completely at capacity by 2004, just over 100 years since it first opened in 1899.

Cemetery renewal at Karrakatta, which began in the 1970s, has given Karrakatta a new lease on life and extended it towards another century of use.

What is Cemetery Renewal?

Cemeteries around the world are facing the challenge of limited space, and some have had to consider practices like exhumation or repositioning remains to deeper levels. At Karrakatta Cemetery, we’ve been fortunate that, from the beginning, burials were spaced more generously, allowing us to explore more respectful and sustainable options.

Rather than disturbing existing graves, the renewal program at Karrakatta Cemetery makes use of unused land between plots and sensitively relocates surface elements such as headstones and kerbing to nearby gardens. This process also allows for the creation of beautiful landscaped gardens and lawns, transforming the area into a peaceful and welcoming place to remember loved ones.

Each stage involves extensive consultation with registered families, historians, heritage experts and the broader community.

At no stage are original graves exhumed, moved or added to under this program.

Not all headstones are removed either. Instances where headstones are kept, include:

• Where the grant of burial is current. A grant of burial is given to the person applying to bury a loved one. These have a tenure of 25 years and can be extended.
• The grave includes an identified Australian war veteran. The Office of Australian War Graves, along with RSL WA will check to see if the grave includes an Australian war veteran.
• The grave includes a person of historical significance. We have a team of researchers who look into the backgrounds of each grave occupant.
• The family of the loved one buried in a grave make a submission to have the grave retained, which is approved by the Monuments Assessment and Advisory Committee.

You can find more information below about graves that are retained.

Careful Planning and Consultation

Cemetery renewal is a robust, thorough and consultative program, seeking the input of all Western Australians as part of the process. We understand and honour the emotional connection attached to final resting places. We work with great respect to ensure families are consulted ahead of any renewal works.

Prior to any works, we consult with a committee comprised of historians, genealogists, architects, community members and a representative of the Office of Australian War Graves. An extensive, 12-month community consultation is undertaken, which includes prominent signage, letters to registered families, advertising, and consideration of public submissions and requests.

We also take a comprehensive photographic record of the existing plot to ensure families have a lasting memory of the location and create a special Memorial Book for each renewed section.

All cemetery renewal practices are compliant with, or exceed, legislative requirements.

A new approach to renewing cemeteries

We acknowledge the importance to families of marking the place of the original interment in sections that have undergone renewal, and consequently we are implementing a new approach to Cemetery Renewal.

This new approach applies to renewal sections at Karrakatta Cemetery, including those already renewed, in the process of being renewed and scheduled to be renewed. The new approach seeks to:

• Reinstate small monuments over original graves, where possible.
• Where reinstatement of a monument is not possible, original graves will be marked with a small plaque and monuments relocated as close as possible to the original grave.
• Ensure monuments are protected/preserved in perpetuity from damage by placement in locations which limit risk of harm from cemetery operations.
• Details of those originally interred without a monument or inscription on the grave will be acknowledged on a memorial pillar.

For already renewed sections, activities to reinstate monuments began in 2024, commencing with the most recently renewed sections and will be working backwards to older sections over the coming years. No monuments will be moved from their current location prior to consultation with families where known contact details are available.

We also work closely with the Office of Australian War Graves (OAWG) and Returned and Services League Western Australia (RSLWA) to identify any veteran interred in a section deemed for renewal at Karrakatta Cemetery who served with the Australian Defence Force in any of the wars, conflicts, and peace operations to which the nation has been committed.  We have committed to ensuring these monuments are retained in situ and registered as veterans’ graves. 

Australian Veterans' Graves

We acknowledge the sacrifices of Australian service personnel who served their nation in war to protect the freedoms we enjoy today and recognise the respect the community of Western Australia has for those who sacrificed so much.

The Metropolitan Cemeteries Board has committed to retaining the graves of all identified Australian war veterans. During the renewal process we work closely with the Office of Australian War Graves (OAWG) and RSLWA to identify Australian veterans in our cemeteries and ensure their graves and any headstones are retained in situ.

We also have a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the OAWG to specify activities between us in relation to Official War Grave Commemorations.

We continue to work very closely with the OAWG to ensure that the memory of service personnel in our cemeteries are honoured and that all Official War Graves are retained, as per the MoU.

A representative from OAWG is also a standing member on the Monument Assessment and Advisory Committee.

To find more information about eligibility for official commemoration please visit OAWG.

Your Family Grave

Graves at Karrakatta that have a current grant are not impacted by cemetery renewal. If you are interested in renewing the grant for your family grave, please contact us on the details provided in the following section.

Purchasing a grant in a section scheduled for cemetery renewal can be undertaken up until the completion of the 3-month consultation period. Family graves can also be used for interments up until the completion of the 3-month consultation period, subject to a non-renewal fee.

You can also make a submission to the Monument Assessment and Advisory Committee, requesting the grave be retained. They will take into consideration any information you submit that may include historical significance and family connection to a grave. 

Please refer to the Submission Guide (PDF, 120KB) for assistance in making a submission.

Cemetery Renewal Program Timeline

This cemetery renewal timeline for Karrakatta Cemetery is an indicative long term plan and provides an overview of the planned program. This schedule is subject to annual review, during which priorities and timelines may be adjusted in response to evolving operational needs. 

Submissions are now open for Wesleyan EC and must be received by 16 November 2026 to be considered.

We would like to hear from you

If you have an interest in a grave in a proposed renewal area or would like to know if a grave will be affected by cemetery renewal you can:

• Refer to our Name Search Register to obtain the location and renewal status of the grave.

• Contact Us - Choose 'Register Your Interest in a Family Grave' in the form.

   

We will need to know:

• The location of the grave.
• Full name and date of death of your loved one (to help us identify the correct grave)
• Your relationship to the deceased.
• Your full name; mailing address, email address, telephone number. 

All grant holders and registered “location interests” will be sent a letter when any redevelopment is planned in their loved one’s section.  Register yourself as a Location Interest for your family graves and keep your contact information current.

If you wish to register a Location Interest against multiple family graves, you may do so.  You can also encourage your other family members to register too.  We will write to every registered contact recorded in our database. 

Please also remember to keep contact information current, and to let us know if you change your mailing or email addresses so that we can contact you when we need to. 

You can also make enquiries about re-purchasing a Grant of Right of Burial for a family grave if the grant has expired, or talk to us about the Cemetery Renewal process and your options including how you can make a submission to retain a grave.