A Veteran’s Service

For most Veterans, their military service is a significant part of their life, and a personal and meaningful funeral service with Nelson Bros will reflect this. A service may be religious or secular, but can include military components. We have the Australian National Flag and the flags of the branches of the Australian Defence Force to place on the casket. We can assist with poppies or sprigs of rosemary.

Nelson Bros will work with you and the local RSL representative if there is an RSL component to the service. The representative will typically consult the military history of the units the veteran serviced in to ascertain probable actions or events during the military service.

When the Last Post is played at a Veteran’s funeral, we always recommend having a live bugler play and have a number of buglers we can call upon.

The Last Post

In military tradition, the Last Post is the bugle call that signifies the end of the day's activities. It is also sounded at military funerals to indicate that the soldier has gone to his or her final rest and at commemorative services such as ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day.

The Last Post is one of a number of bugle calls in military tradition that mark the phases of the day. While Reveille signals the start of a soldier's day, the Last Post signals its end.

Melbourne Legacy

Melbourne Legacy is dedicated to caring for families of Australian Defence Force veterans who have lost their lives or health serving their country. Nelson Bros partners with Legacy to assist families of veterans in need, both with funerals and promoting their other support services.

Department of Veteran’s Affairs

At the time of a Veteran’s Death, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs may be able to assist with considerations such as pension, funeral benefits and other payments. The Department has a helpful Planning Ahead booklet specifically designed for the Veterans Community with detailed information about what to do. Click here to download it:

Department of Veteran’s Affairs

Office of Australian War Graves

For eligible Australian veterans, an official commemoration may be provided in a cemetery or a crematorium at the site of interment, or in an Office of Australian War Graves Garden of Remembrance. To be eligible for an official post-war commemoration, a deceased veteran must have been:

• a veteran whose death has been accepted by the Repatriation Commission or the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission as being due to service in war or conflict; or
• in receipt of a Special Rate (T&PI) disability pension or an Extreme Disability Adjustment (EDA) where the veteran has seen war service; or
• a multiple amputee; or
• an ex-prisoner of war; or
• a Victoria Cross recipient.

For official commemoration, the veteran must have served in a war or conflict. For more recent conflicts, the program covers veterans whose death is related to their operational or Peacekeeping service.

ANZAC Service at Caulfield Hospital

Caulfield Hospital has a long tradition of community service dating back to 1916 when the hospital was first established as an Army Hospital. The Hospital, which is merely a block from our Elsternwick funeral home, provided vital healthcare services to returned servicemen and women from the First World War. Over three years, more than 18,000 soldiers required care at the hospital.

To commemorate this important history of the hospital, Nelson Bros founded and has continue to support the annual ANZAC Commemoration Service at the hospital. Attended by patients, hospital staff and leaders of the local community, including members of parliament, local council and RSL, the event is a significant memorial occasion in Caulfield.