Dying to meet
‘ANNUAL General Meeting’ — the prospect of attending one does not usually fill one with paroxysms of delight.
One can be excused for imagining long speeches, tedious reports and financial minutia, all standing between you and afternoon tea.
Yet, AGMs must be had. Public companies must hold an AGM each year. Revelations from the Banking Royal Commission have certainly resulted in fireworks of New Year’s Eve proportions at numerous financial institutions’ AGMs in recent months.
Indeed, some meetings achieved significant public notoriety, with remuneration reports being voted down — highly unusual — as shareholders protest against not only apparent excesses but also a perceived failure of a Board and/or CEO to deliver results or act ethically.
This by no means applies to every public company. The vast majority conduct themselves appropriately and strive to do the right thing by their clients, staff, shareholders and the wider community, proving this balance can be successfully achieved.
Similarly, not-for-profit organisations and charities are required to hold an AGM each year. November and December, normally known as the festive season, could also very justifiably be renamed ‘AGM Season’ as organisations clamber to hold their annual get-together before the last Christmas carol is sung.
And so it was that I found myself at the Geelong Cemeteries Trust general meeting a month ago today. Now, lest those words conjure up images of grim, darksuited mourners standing around a black horse-drawn hearse, let it be known nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to our Cemeteries Trust and their meeting.
What the Trust’s General Meeting revealed was a multifaceted, contemporary and well-managed organisation, focusing on both operational excellence and long-term planning.
In fact, learning how our final resting place needs are managed proved quite fascinating.
Respect for the individual and the family is paramount among the Trust’s core values, as is environmental responsibility.
Members of the Trust’s governing body are appointed by the Minister for Health. Importantly, there are two local Community Advisory Committees to advise the Trust and senior management.
Operating on an entirely selffunded and not-for-profit basis, the Trust is now responsible for twenty sites (all Crown Land) around the greater Geelong region, the furthest afield being Gisborne, of which the Trust assumed management in 2017.
Each cemetery has a different history and character. Wandering through them can reveal much about our heritage, often brought to life on summer evenings at East Geelong and Queenscliff by Colin Mockett’s historical character troupe.
With our region’s growing population inevitably comes growing need for the Trust’s burial, cremation and entombment services.
Over the past five years, growth for such services has been 4.75 per cent annually. Of these, cremation is proving the most ‘popular’ (if such a term can be used in this context!), accounting for more than 60 per cent of services.
Our community’s increasing cultural and religious diversity is being reflected in cemetery layout and landscaping, and a third mausoleum will be officially opened in 2019.
At the Queenscliff Cemetery, the Trust’s careful efforts in creating a Memorial Walk among environmentally significant Moonah trees was recognised in the Victorian Premier’s Sustainability Awards.
Even further, ‘natural’ and ‘green’ burials are now on offer. While ensuring legislative requirements for transport to a cemetery are met, ‘green burials’ can be in cardboard, wicker or even woollen coffins at any of the Trust’s cemeteries.
And at the Queenscliff Cemetery, ‘natural burials’ — sometimes involving only a shroud — can take place, with minimal disturbance to the natural environment.
And of great relevance to readers in my baby boomer cohort, the Trust sends artificial knees, hips, et cetera after cremation for metal recycling. All funds raised are distributed to charities providing bereavement care. Recent recipients have been Compassionate Friends and Hope Bereavement Care.
Trust staff can provide plenty more information about all these programs and others.
My words today aren’t meant to be morbid — sincere apologies if you found them so — but to recognise the Geelong Cemetery Trust’s innovative and contemporary approach to life’s final event. And I learnt all this at an AGM!