Tender Funerals Canberra Region

26/02/2026

Are you the next member of our growing team providing meaningful and affordable funerals to our community? Or do you know someone who'd be fantastic? Experience is welcome, but not critical; we need the right person, not a specific resume. More information on applying at: https://www.ethicaljobs.com.au/members/tenderfuneralscanberraregion/funeral-director-1?locations=15

26/02/2026

U3A Canberra Forum - The Changing Face of Death: New Approaches to Dying and After-Death Care

We were very glad to be invited by Alex at U3A Canberra to be part of his Tuesday Forum next Tuesday March 3 at 12:30pm via Zoom.

Alex will be speaking to Catherine, our general manager, and Estella from Your Sunset. We'll discuss evolving approaches to death and dying. To register, please contact forums@u3acanberra.org.au

24/02/2026

We are delighted to see the new updates to the Canberra Health Services booklet, When Someone Dies. This was always a very valuable resource to support families trying to navigate their way through an expected or recent death, but some great additions have been made. These include talking about options for participating in the care of your person after their death, empowering people to ask questions and get quotes and more. The checklist that used to be in there now can be pulled out, and a 'Who Will Do This?' column has been added to encourage families to share the roles within their community. We're also very glad to be listed in this issue (the last one was done prior to our opening). Thank you, Canberra Health Services, for such a great community resource and for the opportunity to provide feedback when developing this new booklet.

12/02/2026

Celebrating the life of

Roslyn Avril Byrne
22 April 1947 – 5 January 2026

Beloved partner for 48 years of Roger Wettenhall (dec).

Sister of Graham (dec), Lawrence, Louise, Nola, Colin and sister-in-law of Viv and Barry.

Proud aunt of Sonya, Mark, Rachelle, Kirrilee, Andrew, Bevan, Kelly, Daniel, Carl and Nancy.

Remembered fondly by Roger’s children, Irene, Lynn, Dean and their families. Also by her special friends, Lois and John, and Ruth and Sam.

Celebrated educator, mentor, coach, advocate and friend to many, particularly during her long career at the University of Canberra.

Family, friends and colleagues are invited to Ros’s Celebration of Life, Friday 20th February 2026, 3pm at the Inspire Centre, Building 25, University of Canberra, followed by refreshments.

Please register your intention to attend at https://RosbyrneCelebrationofLife.eventbrite.com.au

16/12/2025

Heidi came out to visit us at Tender a few weeks ago and asked so many useful questions. It's easy to forget in the midst of the grief that usually comes with dying and funerals that there really are many opportunities to find peace, healing and even joy when families are able to take the time and space to find what's meaningful for them.

https://purposemediacbr.au/but-i-didnt-know-you-could-spend-time-with-your-person/

15/12/2025

Have you ever thought about using dried flowers as part of your funeral or death care?

Flowers have long been a part of funerals and dried flowers can be a wonderful way to honour your person. For some they represent endurance, strength or resilience. To others, they symbolize longevity, respect, eternal love or a lasting legacy. They are also a lovely keepsake.

We often have floral arrangements left behind after a funeral and our volunteers are always keen to make sure they don't go to waste. By drying the flowers or petals, we always have something on hand to provide a special touch if needed.

Here are a couple of examples that our wonderful volunteers have put together. Aren't they lovely?

Thank you, ladies!

11/12/2025

Are you interested in developing your skills in deathcare, funerals and supporting people and their families through this time of life? Zenith Virago is running an in-person Deathwalker Course in Bodalla in May 2026. We were lucky enough to have Zenith bring this course to Canberra two years ago and it was a very valuable experience for attendees. This course is also available online.

The in-person Deathwalker Trainings with Zenith Virago are a comprehensive and transformative experience. She has taught versions of this Training for over 25 years, and has worked as a pioneer in more contemporary and holistic death care practices for over 30 years. This Training includes aspects o...

24/11/2025

It's a big moment for us to finally be included as an operational site in Tender Funerals Australia's most recent annual report. We are very proud of the impact we are all having in our communities and now TFA is launching their RTO for funeral skills training as well!

We’re excited to share our 2024-25 Annual Report – so much has happened in one year! Not only have our sites in Illawarra and Mid North Coast grown in providing excellent services for funerals and community education and activities, we’ve also launched three extraordinary new ventures:

- opened and in demand for funerals
- Launched RiteSkill Education & Training as an RTO with new courses
- Launched End of Life Notebook as an online planning tool
. . and so much more, including impact outcomes for the community.

** Updates from our 3 operational sites – wonderful stories of growth and community support.

** Updates from our 10 developing sites – exciting progress and community engagement.

Explore the full report here: https://tenderfunerals.com.au/reports/

Thank you to all of our supporters in the communities we are in – we love working with you to ensure that all Australians have access to a meaningful and affordable funeral.

20/11/2025

Grief is an incredibly different experience for everyone. Have you ever wondered what is happening in our brain and body when we experience it?

In this episode of the ‘The Imperfects’ podcast, Dr Emily Musgrove talks about grief from a clinical perspective, its impact on the brain, how to lean into grief and how you can support someone going through grief.

We hope this very accessible conversation helps you better understand why grief feels the way it does.

Listen or watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nQdBOpC99w

17/11/2025

Thank you to everyone who gave us so many sheets and pillowcases last time. They've almost all gone to good homes, so if you have any FLAT SHEETS or PILLOWCASES you can offer to us, we'd love to have them. Plain or patterned; both are fine. We don't need fitted sheets and we have plenty of quilt covers still, but we'd love flat sheets and pillowcases. If you can help, please call or email canberra@tenderfunerals.com.au. Thanks!

11/11/2025

We are very happy to have been invited to have a stall at the upcoming Harmony and Health Day 2025, hosted by The Butler Canberra and The Henry. We’re looking forward to meeting you.

Come along and meet some of the team from Tender. Whether you have questions about planning and preparing for funerals, the options available to you, death care or how to be involved as a volunteer, we’d love to chat with you.

The Expo is free!

For more information and to register, head to . Registrations close 12 November 2025.

Where?
The Clubhouse at The Henry
94 Fullagar Street
HIGGINS

When?
Thursday, 13 November
10am - 12pm

See you on the 13th!

10/11/2025

Yesterday our community held our first ever Gathering in the Grove, an annual picnic to remember people who were special to us. Held out the back of Tender amidst the birch trees and magnolias, we brought food to share, created art, listened to some incredible music and held a ceremony of remembrance together.

Special thanks to Su Hanfling of Wagtail Workshop for creating our beautiful art space. Families could write postcards to their person, which they could take home or post into our fire as part of our ceremony. They could also create message of support for our Kindness Exchange, or choose a message to take with them.

Hit 'n' Miss provided some fantastic African drumming to get us in the mood - what a great bunch of women!

And Poetry In Motion was the perfect accompaniment to our art-making and ceremony; thanks, Paul and Kate, for such wonderful music and words to comfort and uplift.

Most importantly, thank you to the individuals and families who came to create this first event with us. We are so proud and privileged to be part of this with you.