Cairns funeral home mistake leads to dispute over Kowanyama burial

More than a year on from his death, the body of an Aboriginal elder is still buried in another man’s grave and his family are demanding answers.

Frank Banjo, Delphina Miles and Shaqelle Banjo are demanding answers regarding the reburial of Frank Banjo's brother, Harold Banjo, who was mistakenly buried in a Kowanyama grave almost one year ago. Picture: Kate Stephenson

More than a year on from his death, the body of an Aboriginal elder is still buried in another man’s grave and his family are demanding answers.

In May 2023, Burkin Svendsens Funerals, now operating as Simplicity Cairns, mistakenly buried Harold Banjo in a Kowanyama grave reserved for another man.

It’s understood complications from the serious error have delayed his exhumation and reburial in Normanton, the intended site.

The deceased’s brother and traditional healer Frank Banjo said his family had trusted the funeral home to fix it.

“What’s happened now is we’re stuck, we don’t know what’s going on,” Mr Banjo said.

He said Simplicity Cairns organised a team to exhume the body and return it to Normanton where a plot had been assigned.

“That was his will, he said to his sons, ‘I want to go back to be with mum and dad’,” Mr Banjo said.

However, after landing at Kowanyama airport, the team was allegedly met by the family of the deceased’s defacto partner and members of the community where a disagreement occurred and they returned to Cairns without the body.

Kowanyama is 600km north-west of Cairns. Picture: Supplied.

The Banjo family said their brother’s in-laws, who live in Kowanyama, believed the deceased should remain in place.

“Everyone was willing to go to Normanton for the funeral, but now, because of the funeral parlour’s mistake, they want him to stay there,” Mr Banjo said.

To reach a resolution between the parties, a mediator was brought in by Simplicity Cairns; however, after three meetings, an agreement has yet to be made.

Frank Banjo said it was up to the funeral home to resolve the issue and to respect the initial burial plan.

“We don’t understand why we are having this mediation, we shouldn’t be, I’m the biological brother and we have asked them to take him home,” he said.

“We shouldn’t be arguing between one another, we should be pointing the finger at the funeral parlour, they made the mistake.”

Shaqelle Banjo, the deceased’s biological nephew, said the mix up had also unwittingly caused a family member to break a traditional law which forbids sons from handling their fathers remains.

Frank Banjo, partner Delphina Miles and son Shaqelle Banjo are demanding answers regarding the reburial of Frank Banjo's brother, Harold Banjo, who was mistakenly buried in a Kowanyama grave almost one year ago. Picture: Kate Stephenson

“(Harold’s) son was carrying the coffin, not knowing his dad was in the coffin, he thought it was the other man,” the young Mr Banjo said.

“That’s where another traditional law was broken,” Frank’s partner Delphina Miles added.

“When he found out, he just broke down,” Ms Miles said.

The younger Mr Banjo said the family needed reparations for the emotional toll caused by the mistaken burial.

“We want answers, that’s what we need,” he said.

“The funeral parlour said they would help in any way but it’s been what, almost a year now, and we are still waiting.”

A spokesperson for InvoCare, Simplicity Cairns’ parent company, said they were committed to helping resolve the issue between the two families and would continue to facilitate mediation.

“InvoCare deeply regrets this incident, which our investigations have since determined was the result of human error,” the spokesperson said.

“We have offered our sincere apologies to the families and their communities, and we have assured them of our commitment to resolve the matter.

“Ever since the error was identified, we have been working with the families to provide them with our full support and to resolve the matter respectfully, while protecting their privacy.

“This support has included the provision of several mediation sessions with family members.

“Regrettably, they have been unable to reach (an) agreement.

“We remain fully committed to continuing to work with the families, mediators and community members until a resolution can be found.”

Originally published as Cairns funeral home mistake leads to dispute over Kowanyama burial