Committee

Bec hails from the Blue Mountains in NSW but made Tasmania her home in 2006. Over her career she has worked in various industries including finance, real estate and the law, but in 2011 she found her path into the funeral industry and stayed there until mid-2017. During that time she worked across the many roles offered in the contemporary funeral industry; including pre planning, administration, mortuary, funeral arranging and directing. Retraining as an End of Life Doula and becoming an independent Funeral Director, she has worked in home based death care and family led funerals ever since.

Bec has also been actively working to advance the mission of You n’ Taboo which is the education and advocacy service she co-founded with her partner in 2016.
In 2018 Bec was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to undertake international research and report on ‘the human relationship to death and ceremony through alternate technologies and approaches’. A link to her Churchill report can be found by clicking here. It was these findings that led her to gather people to form the  Australian Home Funeral Alliance, a charity that was co-founded by some brilliant people eager for change. Bec’s Churchill research culminated in her book, ‘A Heartfelt Undertaking’ and then in 2022 Bec was selected to give a TEDx Talk on home funerals.

Bec has also been the President of the Natural Death Advocacy Network since 2020.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading, singing, a good massage, writing, photography, attending the theatre and travel but what makes her most contented is time with her family and chosen communities. The subjects of death and dying, natural burial and the DIY approach to death care are her passion and she loves being out in the community raising awareness and promoting good honest conversations, she is a dedicated advocate for positive change.

Media and Info: https://linktr.ee/BecLyons

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Website: www.yountaboo.com

Estella is a committed advocate for consumer choice at end of life and beyond, she is an End of Life Doula and Grief Counsellor based in Canberra. Her passion is death literacy education to ensure everyone knows their options. Estella has over 20 years experience supporting clients, their families and friends at end of life and during bereavement.

Heidi has worn many hats in her working life: nurse, Auslan interpreter, teacher, and counsellor for rural youth. During the 2019/2020 bushfires on Kangaroo Island Heidi witnessed the raw strength and capacity of community. Tired of the endless treadmill of outsourcing services to the mainland, Heidi saw a deep need to bring death care back into the community’s embrace – and founded KI Doula Services in response to the existential crisis that was all around her.

After further study with Griffith University, and intensive training as an end-of-doula and holistic funeral director, Heidi now works closely with the palliative care team at the Kangaroo Island Community Health Service, specialising in home death care and family lead funerals on private land in SA.  In response to community demand, she quietly manages a private conservation burial ground on the remote western end of Kangaroo Island and is thrilled to be involved in NDAN, an organisation she sees are clearly leading the change in Australia.

Website: www.kidoulaservices.com.au

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Annie is a dedicated advocate for informed end-of-life choices, bringing her financial acumen and passion for natural death care to her role as Treasurer of the Natural Death Advocacy Network. Based in Meanjin (Brisbane), Annie works as a Funeral Director, Funeral Celebrant, and Death Doula, supporting individuals and families to create meaningful, personalised ceremonies and rituals that honour their person who has died.

With a deep commitment to demystifying death, Annie believes in fostering open conversations about dying and advocating for sustainable and eco-friendly burial options. Her professional background equips her with a unique perspective on the emotional and logistical complexities of end-of-life care, and she uses this expertise to contribute to NDAN’s mission of empowering communities with knowledge and resources.

Beyond her work, Annie is a creative spirit, with a love for performance art, visual storytelling, and immersive theatre. She combines her artistic sensibilities with her passion for advocacy to create engaging spaces where people can explore death and dying with curiosity, respect, and even humour.

website:https://grassrootsdeathcare.com.au/

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Insta:https://www.instagram.com/grassroots_deathcare/

Anneke Barnes is a community minded person, arts facilitator, and connector. Having worked across theatre, events, government and not for profit sector for 20 years Anneke’s interest in contributing  of the end of life space began like many people when a loved one died. 

Through Death Curious Darwin in Darwin, Anneke aims to shed light on the topic of death and dying by providing a welcoming space for open discussion and learning. Aligning with NDAN Anneke’s goal is to share information with people to better understand their options at the end of life so they can make informed decisions about their health, body care, and ceremonies. 

Anneke shares her life with lots of people she loves. On a daily basis that includes a supportive husband, and their four legged friend Jen who features in most of Anneke’s selfies. 

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Death Curious Darwin

Candace is an end-of-life doula, funeral celebrant, and registered funeral provider who believes that one of the most life-affirming things a person can do is prepare for one's death. She has worked for over 20 years with people in transition, from recovery from addiction and family turmoil, to end-of-life planning, end-of-life care and families in grief. She sees her role as helping individuals plan for and have their preferred death, and helping families embrace and support not only the dying person but each other to the greatest extent possible.

In addition to her work with NDAN, Candace is on the Board of Directors for Holistic End of Life & Deathcare Australia (HELD) and a member of the Australian Home Funeral Alliance (AHFA), Dying With Dignity Victoria (DWDV), Institute of Community Directors (MICDA) and Palliative Care Victoria (PCV). She holds a BA in Human Development and a Masters of Science in Transpersonal Psychology. In addition to doula training (Cert IV) with Preparing the Way and celebrancy training with Celebrants Training College, she  has trained in addiction counselling, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy.

Candace serves all of greater Melbourne.

Website: Journease.com.au
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Phone: 03 0132 0276
Mobile: 0413 117 064

Known for her compassionate & community minded ways, Jennifer Ulyatt wears a few hats as an End-of-Life Doula, a Death Café facilitator, a Cremation and Memorial Guide, and a Counsellor specialising in relationship, grief, and loss support. Jen brings a gentle integrative approach to supporting individuals, families and carers through life’s transitions. As a community connector and educator, she is dedicated to increasing death literacy in our communities and homes, creating spaces where conversations about dying and bereavement can be held with compassion and clarity.

Jen has a particular passion for shrouding, honouring natural and traditional practices that restore dignity and choice at the end of life while also allowing loved ones the space to say goodbye. Her values and work align closely with NDAN’s mission to normalise open empowering conversations about death and dying, ensuring that individuals and families feel supported, informed and connected.

Esther Guinea is an End of Life Doula with a background as a Registered Nurse and Midwife.

Prior to her career in Nursing, Esther had a variety of jobs in both the Northern Territory and Victoria, including working as a music instructor and a horticulturalist.

Her varied work and travel history has led Esther to value inclusivity. She supports all people regardless of age, gender, neurotype, cultural and religious backgrounds and believes everyone has the strength to follow their own path – but we don’t have to do it alone.

Esther’s calm, practical and down to earth approach enables her to encourage individuals to explore their preferences and wishes while they are living well, living with a life limiting-illness, are frail, ageing or at End of Life She also provides support to family and significant others in grief and bereavement. In advocating for her clients, Esther provides practical, emotional, social and spiritual support that honours the individual, their family and friends at this time of transition.

Esther Lives in Northern Victoria, on a small rural block where she joyfully tends her permaculture garden and orchard with the help of her dog Tess, her small flock of chickens and, occasionally, her daughter and granddaughter.

Esther’s End of Life Doula business – Living & Leaving – services an area within 100km + radius of Rochester and includes cross border communities as far north as Deniliquin NSW, Castlemaine in the south, Heathcote in the east and Kerang/Swan Hill in the west. Esther is active in the community, regularly hosting talks and providing practical end of life care. Esther is  passionate about living well to the final breath, improving death literacy and home based After Death Care.

Phone: 0459 892 697
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Fiona has volunteered and worked for a number of marine conservation and environmental organisations throughout her property career. She has a Bachelor of Economics from Sydney University and a Master of Property at UTS.

After moving down from Sydney to the South Coast of NSW in 2016 she started the journey of establishing Australia’s first 100% natural and conservation burial ground – inspired by a documentary called Will for Woods where an Australian documentary maker called Amy Browne followed a man in America who was dying of cancer and his pursuit of finding a natural burial ground. Fiona says “It seemed like the best way to protect habitat for wildlife and also provide a beautiful place to visit loved ones, a gift to the planet.”

Walawaani Way Conservation Burial is an 18-hectare site that will provide habitat for glossy black cockatoos, koalas and lyrebirds. Walawaani Way aims to establish world’s best practice alongside NDAN’s guidance and mentorship. Fiona is striving to make conservation natural burials the number one choice for all Australians by communicating that this is what humans have done for 99% of our existence as is simply a part of the cycle of life. 

Fiona would love to hear from you, so please reach out!

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www.walawaaniway.com

Phone: 0402 892 759

Karen has a diverse portfolio of professional experience rooted in community service and advocacy. She spent ten years working in the union movement, where she specialised in industrial law, advocacy, and community campaigning Karen continues to be committed to justice and to giving a voice to those who need it most.

Karen also worked as a primary school teacher for eight years. Her teaching experience is as diverse as the landscapes she worked in, from a parent-run community school on the mid-north coast of New South Wales to a remote Northern Territory Indigenous Community school. In every classroom, Karen fostered curiosity, resilience, and kindness to help students grow both academically and emotionally.

Beyond her professional life, Karen is an avid reader and movie enthusiast (she has even jumped solo out of a plane a dozen times)! She shares her home with Amber, her 6-year-old rescue dog from Darwin, whose companionship brightens her days.

Karen has successfully completed specialised Funeral Celebrancy training with Sally Cant, in addition to a Certificate IV in Celebrancy through Box Hill TAFE. Now, as an Independent Funeral Celebrant, she is passionate about death literacy and navigating the evolving landscape of death care.

Karen is a newly appointed NDAN ordinary committee member.

Kerryn Davey, an End-of-Life Doula based on Yuin Country, is the founder of Call of the Kookaburra: Compassionate Care Services.

Grounded in cultural anthropology and Indigenous Studies (BA Hons - University of Queensland) and guided by deep respect for Māori and First Nations knowledge systems, Kerryn is dedicated to revitalising natural burial, home-based death care, and community-driven support models.

She co-facilitates Death Conversation Cafe events with colleague Deepika Mistry in the Far South Coast of NSW and is developing the Compassionate Care Collective to enhance collaborative end-of-life care in their regions.

Kerryn’s path is rooted in profound loss. When her beloved life-partner died suddenly in their Wellington (NZ) home in 2022, she witnessed firsthand the importance of presence, choice, and culturally respectful care at the end of life. This experience led her to train with the Australian Doula College, completing her End-of-Life Doula studies in 2024.

She brings a rich perspective from her time in Aotearoa New Zealand, including her experience in co-founding Ngā Pou Herenga: the Funeral Guides’ Collective Charity Trust in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, spearheaded by visionary Ruth Gerzon. She gained invaluable insight into community-led, accessible, affordable and sustainable death care.

Inspired by the strong network of natural burial sites in New Zealand—many operated by local councils—she returned to Australia with a vision to advocate for council-run natural burial grounds in NSW.

As an NDAN committee member, Kerryn brings a unique blend of lived experience, cross-cultural insight, and professional expertise from both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Website: https://kookaburracompassionatecare.com.au/

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Mb: 0400 251 735

Chi Chi Menendez is a Deathwalker and artist working in the Northern Rivers on Bundjalung Country. She is the founder of The Dying Well, a platform dedicated to cultivating community spaces for death literacy and opening meaningful conversations about dying, grief, and end-of-life choices. Through community death literacy events such as Death Conversations and Death Matters workshops, Chi Chi creates accessible spaces for reflection, learning, and connection across the region, with a focus on empowering personal choice and normalising conversations about death.

She is also the co-founder of Ritual Objects, an artisan ceramic studio creating handcrafted funerary urns and ceremonial vessels and objects. Her studio practice explores the role of objects in ritual and remembrance, offering families and communities alternative, creative pathways for grief and honouring their dead.

Chi Chi’s work sits at the intersection of ritual, art, and social change. She brings to NDAN a deep commitment to community education, a creative spirit, and a desire to reimagine the landscape of end-of-life conversations and memorialisation.

Relevant links

https://thedyingwell.com.au/
https://ritualobjects.com.au/

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