You are allowed to do this

In every Australian state and territory, there is no legal requirement to use a funeral director. You can arrange and carry out a funeral yourself — including caring for the body at home, transporting it to a cemetery or crematorium, and conducting the service.

There are only three legal requirements.

• A Medical Certificate of Cause of Death. The doctor provides this.
• Registration of the death. The funeral director usually does it. You can do it yourself through Births, Deaths and Marriages.
• Following your state's public health rules for burial or cremation.

Families who care for the body at home almost universally describe it as one of the most profound, healing, and tender experiences of their lives. Having the body taken by a funeral director shortly after death is a relatively recent practice — for most of human history, families did this themselves.

You don't have to do it all yourself. Many families work with a funeral director but choose to wash and dress the body themselves, or keep the body at home for a day before handing over. A growing number of "home funeral guides" in Australia can coach you through any part of it. The Natural Death Advocacy Network (NDAN) maintains a list.

Many cultural and spiritual traditions have their own body-care practices — ritual washing in Islamic practice (ghusl), tahara in Judaism, preparing the body at home in many First Nations traditions. These sit alongside Australian law comfortably. If you need guidance specific to your tradition, your faith community can often help.