New South Wales has become the first Australian state to pass legislation allowing human composting, legally termed terramation. The process uses microorganisms and controlled heat to turn human remains into a compost-like material. Within two to three months, it produces about one cubic metre of nutrient-rich material that can support plant growth. Artificial materials such as implants must be removed, and bones may need further breaking down. Regulations and specialised facilities are still needed, with the first terramation in Australia anticipated no sooner than 2029.
Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich has passed a bill legalising terramation, the composting of human remains, through NSW Parliament on Wednesday 21 October. The Public Health Amendment (Natural Organic Reduction) Bill 2026 allows remains to be broken down over time in nutrient-rich soil at a reduction facility. Composted remains can be returned to the person who applied, buried in a burial ground, or placed in a facility reserved for them. Reduction facilities are expected to open around 2028. A 2020 report found Sydney was running out of burial space.
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New South Wales has passed laws allowing terramation, a process that turns a body into soil, as an alternative to burial and cremation. The private member's bill was introduced by independent MP Alex Greenwich. The process places a body in a temperature-controlled vessel with organic matter, taking about 30 days to become soil. Several MPs said they would choose it for themselves. The government has 18 months to create regulations, and the practice will be limited to specialised facilities.
New South Wales has passed legislation permitting natural organic reduction, a process of composting human remains that the bill calls Terramation. The Legislative Council approved the measure during a sitting on the same day it was reported. The method is presented as one of several environmentally focused options for handling bodies after death, alongside natural burials and water cremation. Interest in such alternatives has grown as people weigh more sustainable ways to approach end-of-life arrangements.
