About our bereavement service
Our bereavement service is free and offers:
- grief and loss counselling and support
- resources, information and referrals.
The service is available in:
- Auburn
- Baulkham Hills
- Blacktown
- Holroyd
- Parramatta.
You can contact us by calling (02) 9881 1723 or email WSLHD-BereavementCounselling@health.nsw.gov.au
Bereavement (grief) counselling
Bereavement or grief counselling is a confidential (private) discussion about the impact of your loss. Not everyone wants or needs grief counselling. It is offered based on the needs of each person. Counselling can help you with:
- expressing your grief
- understanding your needs
- identifying your own strengths
- coping and adjusting to a changed life.
A bereavement counsellor will:
- listen and learn about your experience of grief
- help you manage your grief in your own way with helpful strategies and information
- not tell you how you should or shouldn't feel, react or behave
- not need to be protected from your pain.
Counselling might help if:
- you feel stuck in your grief or feel like it is getting worse with time.
- your relationships with others are affected in negative ways.
- you have distressing memories about illness or death that don't go away.
- you feel you can't talk to anyone because they don't understand what you are going through.
- there are other difficult issues related to the death you want to explore or discuss with someone neutral.
Download and read our bereavement counselling flyer (PDF 268.53KB)
Service locations
We offer counselling online, by telephone and in-person at many locations in Western Sydney and use health care interpreters where needed. For more information, call (02) 9881 1723 or email WSLHD-BereavementCounselling@health.nsw.gov.au
Support groups
We currently do not host any active support groups. However, we have provided a list of grief support groups that may be of interest to you.
| Support group | Focus area | Contact details |
|---|---|---|
| Grief support for those grieving the death of their spouse, partner or fiancé. | Phone: (02) 9519 2820 Email: nswsolace@gmail.com |
| Peer support community for grieving parents, siblings and grandparents who have lost a child of any age, for any reason. | National support line: NSW support line: Phone: (02) 9290 2355 |
Memorial services and events
We help with memorial services for families known to our cancer care and palliative care services. For more information, call (02) 9881 1723 or email WSLHD-BereavementCounselling@health.nsw.gov.au
Find a bereavement service
Use our Service Directory to find a health support service near you.
Other bereavement services and resources
Use the information from the links and resources to find more grief and bereavement services and resources.
Download and read our grief and bereavement services and resources flyer (PDF 235.37KB). We also have 2 guides to help and support you:
Learn more about grief support services available in NSW.
Note: Western Sydney Local Health District does not formally endorse or recommend the listed external services, resources and websites. These have been provided for reference only, please use them at your own discretion.
Grief support services
- Beyond Blue provides free 24x7 telephone and online counselling services
- Cancer Council provides information and support with understanding grief
- Canteen Australia supports young people aged 12 to 25 impacted by cancer
- The Griefline Integrating Grief Program is free service for people in NSW
- Grief Australia offers helpful resources, counselling and support groups
- Headspace helps young people who are dealing with grief and loss
- The National Association for Loss and Grief offers free loss, grief and trauma support
- The National Centre for Childhood Grief supports children and their families with counselling, education, support groups and care services
- Red Nose offers grief and loss support and support groups
- Explore grief education on the what's your grief? website
End-of-life planning specialists
Apps
- Headspace app (mental health and wellbeing)
- My Grief App (tailored ways for dealing with grief challenges)
- Virtual Grief Support (global peer-led support groups for people experiencing grief)
Podcasts
- Good mourning podcast
- Griefcast with Cariad Lloyd podcast
- Thanks for asking podcast
- The Adventures of Memento Mori podcast
- The Art of Dying Well podcast
- The grief coach podcast
- The what's your grief podcast
- This too shall suck podcast
Videos
Information for health professionals
Our bereavement service provides training, support and consultation to health and community professionals. This includes:
- education around bereavement
- supporting a grieving person
- contemporary grief theory
- compassionate care.
Training and support are available for health services, community organisations and schools. For more information, contact us by calling (02) 9881 1723 or email WSLHD-BereavementCounselling@health.nsw.gov.au
Clinical consultation and assessment service
The Transcultural Mental Health Centre provides a clinical consultation and assessment service to advise staff on bereavement support. For more information, call 1800 648 911
This resource is guide on how to create bereavement (grieving) packs for family members at the time of a death.
The pack contains the recommended minimum suggestions. Additional material can be included based on how well the health professional knows each family. Refer to the additional materials section for more suggestions.
Recommended minimum
| Resource name | Description | Resource file link |
|---|---|---|
| Bereavement pack envelope | Use A5 envelopes or larger for each bereavement pack. | n/a |
| Bereavement pack condolence label | Editable label template for envelopes. A label ensures families can open the pack when they are ready. | Bereavement pack editable condolence labels x14 template (DOCX 36.34KB) |
| Sympathy letter | All departments (except supportive and palliative care) can include a sympathy letter in their bereavement packs. | Contact the bereavement service team |
| Bereavement counselling flyer | Service flyer about the free counselling and support service, including referral information (intake email and phone number). | Bereavement counselling flyer (PDF 268.53KB) |
| Information about grief and bereavement services and resources flyer | Service flyer about grief and bereavement services and resources (e.g., support groups) and other relevant resources (books, internet sites) on grief and bereavement. | Information about grief and bereavement services and resources flyer (PDF 235.37KB) |
| Understanding your grief | This resource provides basic psycho-educational information about grief responses. | Understanding your grief |
| Arranging a funeral | Information about arranging a funeral. | A guide to arranging a funeral |
| When someone dies in hospital | A practical guide for family members and friends of someone who has died in hospital. | Guide for when someone dies in hospital |
| Needing help after someone has died | Information on how to access grief support, specialised support services, and the cost of grief support services. | Grief support services available in NSW |
| Other bereavement services and resources | List of available telephone support, telephone counselling and online chat services | Refer to the other bereavement services and resources section |
Additional materials
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Contact your relevant Aboriginal Health worker or Aboriginal Liaison Officer for support and advice.
| Resource name | Description | Resource file link |
|---|---|---|
| Indigenous Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (IPEPA) | Animated YouTube video on loss, grief and healing. | Loss, grief and healing |
| 13YARN | 24-hour, 7 days crisis support and resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. | Factsheets |
Children and young people
| Resource name | Description | Resource file link |
|---|---|---|
| Grief Australia | Information sheets for primary school age children and adolescents | |
| National Centre for Childhood Grief | These are paid resources, including books, articles, websites and publications. | Resources |
| Feel the Magic (Camp Magic) | Support programs to help children cope with the loss of a loved one. | Camp Magic |
Multicultural and diverse communities
Contact the Transcultural Mental Health Centre for support and advice.
| Resource name | Description | Resource file link |
|---|---|---|
| Carers NSW | Grief and loss resources in multiple languages, including Arabic, Cantonese, Greek, Hindi, and Mandarin. | Bereavement language resources |
| Red Nose | Culturally safe grief support for refugee, migrant and multicultural families. | Supporting refugee, Migrant and CALD families through grief and loss |
| Transcultural Mental Health Centre | Mental health resources in multiple languages. | In your language resources |
| Health Translations | Online library with multi-language health resources for health professionals and the wider community. | Advanced Search page for grief resources |
| Griefline | Translated resources on coping with grief, caring for someone who is grieving, natural disasters and grief, losing a pet, and loneliness and grief. | Factsheets and translated resources |
Older people
| Resource name | Description | Resource file link |
|---|---|---|
| National Ageing Research Institute | Information about grief in older people, includes useful links and resources. | Grief in older people |
| palliAGED | Information on grief and loss among older people and families, including signs of grief and how to support them. | Grief and Loss: Older People and Families |
| Older Persons Advocacy Network | Free, independent and confidential support to older people receiving government-funded aged care. |