Who Do You Need to Notify When Someone Dies in Australia?

Detailed Explanation

This is the Australian version of the notification checklist. The general groups (government, finance, employer, utilities, advisers) are covered in who do you need to notify when someone dies. This page covers the Australian agencies, forms and time limits. Where it fits in the wider sequence, from certification and the funeral director to the death certificate, is set out in what to do when someone dies in Australia.

There's no law listing everyone who must be told. In practice the executor or next of kin works through the list, and some organisations set their own expectations about timing.

Services Australia: Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support

Services Australia asks to be told of a death within 28 days. It lists three ways to do it:

• calling the Older Australians line and saying someone has died
• completing and submitting the Advice of death form (SA116)
• visiting a service centre

Services Australia uses the notification to update its Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support records. This matters most when the person received the Age Pension, Disability Support Pension or another payment: payments made after the death may need to be paid back, so an early call helps avoid an overpayment the estate has to sort out later. If you were the person's partner or carer, the same call is a chance to ask what changes for your own payments.

The Australian Taxation Office

The ATO needs its own notification. Telling Services Australia or a bank doesn't reach it. According to the ATO, the official notification needs either the death certificate or a grant of probate or letters of administration. It can be done online, with an interview at a participating Australia Post outlet to present the documents, or by mailing a paper form with certified copies. The same form records who will manage the estate, and only the executor or administrator can nominate for that role.

If the documents aren't ready yet, a relative can phone the ATO to let it know informally. The ATO will then pause the person's tax correspondence until the family is ready. A final "date of death" tax return is often needed later. See what does an executor do in Australia for where this fits in the executor's work.

The Australian Death Notification Service

The Australian Death Notification Service is a free government website that notifies multiple participating organisations in a single online process. Participants include banks, superannuation funds, utility providers, insurers and some government and education bodies, and the site publishes the current list. Before it can be used, the death must be registered and a death certificate issued by the state or territory Births, Deaths and Marriages registry. The service checks the details against registry data before sending anything. Account and membership numbers help, but you can still notify an organisation without them.

It's a genuine time-saver, but it doesn't cover everything. Organisations that aren't on the participating list, the employer, and most small subscriptions still need a direct call or email.

Other government bodies

• Department of Veterans' Affairs: if the person was a veteran or a DVA client, DVA asks families or executors to call the Veterans' Access Network on 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372). DVA can also explain any bereavement payments or funeral benefits that may apply.
• State or territory transport authority: driver licences and vehicle registrations are state matters, so the right contact depends on where the person lived (Transport for NSW in New South Wales, for example). Registrations usually need transferring to the new owner or cancelling.
• Electoral roll: the Australian Electoral Commission receives death information from Births, Deaths and Marriages registries, so families usually don't need to contact it.

Superannuation, banks and insurers

• Super funds: each fund the person belonged to needs to be told, and a death benefit claim lodged. It doesn't happen automatically, and payment often takes months. See how superannuation is paid out when someone dies in Australia for how nominations and trustee decisions work.
• Banks and credit unions: most freeze accounts to new transactions once told, and many will release money for funeral costs before probate. How much, and what paperwork they want, depends on the bank.
• Insurers: life cover held through super is claimed through the super fund. Standalone life insurance, income protection, home and contents and car insurance each need separate notice.
• Lenders and credit providers: a mortgage, car loan or credit card is generally paid from the estate, not by family. See do you inherit a person's debts when they die in Australia before agreeing to pay anything personally.

Employer

If the person was working, the employer needs to know promptly to process final pay, unused annual and long service leave, and any employer super contributions still owing. If you're the one juggling this around your own job, see how much bereavement leave you get in Australia.

Things to Consider

• Order several certified death certificates. The ATO, super funds, banks and insurers commonly want one, and the Death Notification Service can't be used until a certificate has been issued. See how to get a death certificate in Australia for costs and wait times.
• Download the Services Australia checklist. Its "Who to notify" checklist is a printable way to track which organisations have been told and which have been sent a certificate.
• The 28-day window is for Services Australia specifically. Most other organisations have no fixed deadline, though delay can mean overpayments and fees.
• Different states, different transport agencies. If the person lived in one state and the family lives in another, the vehicle and licence paperwork follows the person's state.
• If the person died overseas, the nearest Australian embassy, high commission or consulate is the first contact, and Services Australia has international phone lines for families abroad.

Common Mistakes

• Assuming the Death Notification Service tells Centrelink and the ATO. Services Australia and the ATO each set out their own notification process. Tell them directly.
• Spending a pension payment that arrived after the death. It may have to be paid back. Leave it untouched until Services Australia confirms what's owed.
• Waiting for probate to tell anyone. Services Australia, banks and super funds can all be told well before probate. The ATO's official notification is the exception worth timing: if probate is being sought, the ATO suggests waiting for the grant to avoid resubmitting.
• Contacting only one super fund. People often hold more than one account. The ATO can tell the executor which funds hold the person's super.