Cemetery agency CEO stood down amid protests over treatment of grave sites

The CEO of a Victorian cemetery agency has been stood down and a major cemetery policy has been dumped, after the administration was accused of being "careless" and "uncaring" in the way it removed personal items from grave sites.

Remembrance Parks Central Victoria, the agency responsible for Eaglehawk Cemetery, is now reviewing decisions made by stood-down acting CEO, Emma Flukes, after a sudden enforcement blitz of the now-scrapped adornment policy that regulates what can be placed on grave sites.

The policy has now been scrapped.

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Hundreds of families who have relatives buried at Eaglehawk Cemetery turned out this week to protest against the recent action.

"It's theft and vandalism. Because they have smashed up things," Trish Connor told A Current Affair.

Connor attended the protest on behalf of her granddaughter, Patiya May Schreiber, who was killed at the age of four by a falling tree in 2013.

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In life, Patiya was afraid of the dark, so Connor placed simple solar lights on her grave.

Without warning, last month the cemetery began removing items from grave sites, including Patiya's lights.

Connor was devastated.

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"Now Patiya's in the dark. That's all I hear when I go to bed — Patiya's voice saying, 'I don't like the dark Nanny, Nanny I don't like the dark'," Connor said.

Lisa Kidman's daughter, Lindsay, is buried at Eaglehawk Cemetery.

Lindsay loved guinea pigs and for nine years, a ceramic guinea pig was attached to her grave.

The guinea pig was removed last week.

"Lindsay deserves better than this. She deserves way better than this," Kidman said.

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"What do the cemetery say on their website? 'We have compassion and empathy for all of you'. I'm sorry, I call BS on that."

Kidman had been attempting to meet with Flukes about the issue but wasn't getting a hearing.

"Get out of your little white tower, CEO," Kidman said.

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"Get out of your little white tower, the people around the table who made these stupid decisions.

"Had I known that nine years on, that this is how Lindsay would be disrespected, I wouldn't have put her there and I certainly wouldn't have bought the plot next to her."

The adornment policy regulates what can be placed on grave sites.

The policy does say "breakable" items will be removed and "solar lights" are "prohibited".

But the policy has existed for years without being enforced.

Families said they were given no notice that the action was about to be taken.

"Absolutely nothing, nothing at all, nothing by mail, email or phone," said Jenny Gray-Knight, who's parents, Kel and Merle, are buried at Eaglehawk.

The agency responsible for the cemetery has admitted the communication was poor.

"We recognise that we should have provided better support and communicated more widely before acting the way we did," Remembrance Parks Central Victoria wrote in a statement.

For the Remembrance Parks Central Victoria's statement issued on January 30, 2023, regarding the Remembrance Park adornment policy, visit here.

For the Remembrance Parks Central Victoria's statement issued on February 3, 2023, regarding the ceased implementation of the current adornment policy, visit here.