有人呼吁安东尼·阿尔巴尼斯利用全国内阁机制，制止使用无标记的公共墓地来安葬贫困的澳大利亚人，并解决导致家属猝不及防的种种问题。
Anthony Albanese has been urged to use national cabinet to stop the use of unmarked communal graves to bury impoverished Australians and address failings that are leaving family and friends blindsided.
《卫报》澳大利亚版周二披露，有些无标记的公共墓地甚至在未通知逝者家属的情况下便用于安葬，这一消息引发了政界广泛谴责，包括联邦自由党议员、各州工党部长以及绿党成员。新南威尔士州政府已承诺对这种做法展开紧急审查。
Guardian Australia’s revelations on Tuesday that unmarked, communal graves were being used, in some cases without notifying the families of the deceased, prompted widespread political condemnation on Tuesday, including from federal Liberal MPs, state Labor ministers, and the Greens. New South Wales government committed to an urgent review of the practice.
卫生部长瑞安·帕克表示，此前他并不知晓本州政府竟采用这种方式使用墓地。他已指示相关部门探讨改革方案，包括效仿维多利亚州的模式——为每位逝者单独安排墓地和标记，而每场葬礼的相关费用仅为3000澳元。
The health minister, Ryan Park, said he had not been previously aware of the way the graves were being used by his government. He has tasked his department to explore reforms, including emulating the Victorian model, where individuals are buried with their own plot and marking, a process that costs just $3,000 per funeral.
“我认为我们在这方面需要做得更好，”帕克说道，“显然，逝者的尊严以及其家属的感受都值得我们重视，我们必须改进这一做法。”独立参议员大卫·波科克则敦促阿尔巴尼斯在全国内阁会议上提出该问题，推动各州及领地达成统一协议，确保逝者得到有尊严的安葬，并落实向家属、亲友及其他相关人士及时通知的基本标准。
“I think it’s something that we need to do better,” Park said. “Quite clearly, the dignity of those who have … passed, as well as for their families, is something that we need to take into consideration, and we need to do this better.”Independent senator David Pocock urged Albanese to raise the issue at national cabinet and seek a uniform agreement across states and territories to ensure dignified burials and a basic standard of notification to families, friends, and others associated with the deceased.
“在澳大利亚这样一个富裕国家，贫穷绝不应成为一个人只能被安葬在无标记公共墓地的理由，”他说道。
“Being poor in a country as wealthy as Australia should not condemn you to an unmarked communal grave,” he said.
“虽然我明白这可能并非大多数人日常关心的重点，但我们如何对待最弱势群体——包括在他们离世之后——恰恰体现了我们的价值观以及我们作为一个国家的本质。”据悉，在悉尼西部的鲁克伍德公墓，越南战争退伍军人、无家可归者、有赌博成瘾问题的人群以及来自发展中国家的移民都被一同安葬于此，每个墓穴中往往埋葬着四至六名毫无亲属关系的人。
“While I appreciate that this may not be at the top of most people’s list of daily concerns, how we treat our most vulnerable, including in death, goes to our values and who we are as a country.”Vietnam veterans, rough sleepers, people with gambling addictions and migrants from developing countries have been buried together at Rookwood cemetery in western Sydney, with each plot often holding between four and six unrelated people.
负责国防事务的影子部长菲利普·汤普森称，退伍军人被草草埋葬的现象“令人深感担忧”。
Shadow minister for defence personnel Phillip Thompson described the burials of war veterans as “deeply concerning”.
“得知澳大利亚的退伍军人也被埋葬在无标记的乱葬坑中，我感到非常失望，”汤普森说道，“这些男女军人曾为国家效力，无论其经济状况如何，他们在死后都应得到尊严与尊重。”他强调，联邦政府有责任确保所有退伍军人都能被确认身份并得到妥善纪念。
“I am disappointed to hear Australian veterans are among those being buried in unmarked mass graves,” Thompson said. “These men and women served our nation and deserve dignity, respect in death, regardless of their financial circumstances.”He said it was the job of the federal government to ensure every veteran is identified and appropriately commemorated.
新南威尔士州绿党议员苏·希金森呼吁该州政府紧急审查：目前用于联系逝者亲友的机制是否配备了足够的人力、资源以及必要的保障措施。
NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson called on the NSW government to urgently examine whether its model for identifying the friends and family of deceased persons had “the people, resources and safeguards” necessary.
“悲伤、死亡以及人的尊严这类问题绝不能被视作只需以最低成本处理的行政事务，”她指出，“任何人都不应仅仅因为身无分文，死后就得不到应有的人道对待。”据《卫报》报道，在至少六起案例中，逝者的亲友、无家可归者救助机构及社区领袖均未获知相关处理流程，这使他们错失了出面干预、安排其他丧葬事宜的机会，此举很可能违反了新南威尔士州卫生部门的相关规定。
“Matters of grief, death and human dignity cannot be treated as administrative burdens to be processed at the lowest possible cost,” she said. “Nobody should receive a lesser measure of humanity in death simply because they died without money.”In at least six cases identified by the Guardian, friends, families, homelessness charities and community leaders had not been informed about the process, denying them a chance to intervene and pay for alternative funeral arrangements, a likely breach of NSW Health policy. ‘Unacceptable’
“不可接受”帕克承认过去的失误“不可接受”；新南威尔士州卫生部门也公开致歉，承认该部门过去未能始终给予经济困难群体应有的尊严与尊重。
Park has accepted that past failings are “unacceptable” and NSW Health has apologised, acknowledging that it has not always treated those without financial means with the dignity and respect they are entitled to.
“失去亲人的家属在悲痛之际还要应对诸多丧葬事宜，实在不易；无论经济状况如何，所有逝者都应得到尊严与尊重，”新南威尔士州卫生病理学部门的一位发言人说道。
“Families and friends who have lost a loved one face many challenges managing arrangements during a time of grief, and all deceased persons should be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their financial circumstances,” a NSW Health Pathology spokesperson said.
“显然，对于那些无力承担丧葬费用的逝者，过去并未始终做到妥善安排其葬礼或火化事宜。新南威尔士州卫生部对由此给丧亲家庭带来的痛苦深表歉意。”新南威尔士州卫生部还表示，该部门“致力于改进工作方式”，包括推行相关改革，以便更好地与逝者家属、殡葬服务机构及其他合作单位协作，“为经济困难者妥善安排后事”。
“It is clear this has not always occurred with respect to the burials or cremations for deceased people without the financial means to pay for a funeral, and NSW Health apologises for the distress this has caused to those who have lost someone they love.”NSW Health also said it is “committed to changing the way we work”. That includes reforms to better work with loved ones, funeral service providers and partner agencies to “assess and manage deceased persons without financial means”.
此前，《卫报》披露称，至少有18名曾接受过无家可归者救助服务的人士在相关机构毫不知情的情况下被草草埋葬在无标记的公共墓地中。此后，政府也表态将加强与社区组织及慈善机构的合作，共同筹措丧葬资金。
The government has also signalled greater cooperation with community and charity groups to seek funeral funding, after the Guardian revealed at least 18 people known to homelessness services had been buried in unmarked and communal graves without the sector’s knowledge.
相关规定要求，政府在为逝者安排下葬或火化前，必须尽一切努力联系其家人、朋友及其他相关人士，以确认他们是否愿意出资安排更为体面的葬礼。谁该为此负责？
The rules require the government to do whatever it can to contact family, friends and others associated with the deceased before burying or cremating them, to check if they want to fund alternative funerals. Who is responsible?
直至2025年，该流程的责任一直由新南威尔士州卫生部与警方共同承担。去年实施的改革将这一职责移交给了新南威尔士州病理服务局，由其在社区内发生的死亡事件或需经验尸官处理的案件中负责相关事宜，警方则不再承担此职责。
Responsibility for that process had been shared between NSW Health and police until 2025. Reforms last year gave NSW Health Pathology responsibility for the process when deaths occurred in the community or in cases before the coroner, replacing police.
帕克指出，自2025年起实施的各项改革意义重大，有助于确立一种“以人为中心”的工作方式，确保所有逝者都能得到应有的尊重与关怀。
Park said the changes made since 2025 were significant in establishing a more “person-centred approach to ensure all deceased persons are treated with the respect and compassion they deserve”.
“失去至亲绝非易事，无论经济状况如何，每个人离世时都应得到尊严与尊重，”帕克说道，“然而过去的运作方式却未能始终做到这一点，这是不可接受的。”
“Losing a loved one is never easy, and everyone should be treated with dignity and respect when they pass, regardless of their financial circumstances,” Park said. “Previous arrangements have meant that this has not always been the case, and that is unacceptable.”
悉尼独立议员亚历克斯·格林威奇对新南威尔士州卫生部为解决这一问题所作出的努力表示欢迎。他表示：“我们社会中那些处于边缘化与弱势地位的群体，同样有权获得体面的告别仪式，让他们的生命得到应有的纪念。”
Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich welcomed changes made by NSW Health to address the problem. “Those who are marginalised and vulnerable in our community deserve the opportunity to be farewelled respectfully, honouring the life they lived,” he said.
《卫报》澳大利亚版的调查发现，2025年相关改革实施后，当地的葬礼流程仍存在严重疏漏。其中便有悉尼男子彼得·吉塞尔的案例：他于2024年去世，今年6月被安葬在一处无标识的公共墓穴中，其妹妹妮可以及密友伊莱恩·格雷迪对此毫不知情。
Guardian Australia’s investigation has identified serious failings in burials that occurred this year, after the 2025 reforms. That includes the case of Peter Giesel, a Sydney man who died in 2024 and was buried in an unmarked communal grave in June without the knowledge of his sister, Nicole, or close friend Elaine Grady.
新南威尔士州卫生部称，该部门已更新相关政策，要求“为所有下葬者配备统一的平面墓碑”。然而，至今仍有大量葬礼是在未设置任何墓碑的情况下进行的。
NSW Health said it had updated its policy to require “the provision of a uniform flat grave marker for people who have been buried”. Despite this, burials have continued to occur without any marker.
鲁克伍德公墓的运营方“大都会纪念公园”表示，州政府并未拨款用于购置墓碑。
The operator of Rookwood, Metropolitan Memorial Parks, says the state government has not funded it to provide grave markings.