Cemetery or graveyard: what is the difference in New Zealand?

Written by Henry Smith · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Updated 2026-10-20 · Reviewed annually, or sooner if the rules it describes change.

In everyday English, a graveyard is a burial ground beside a church, and a cemetery is a separate burial ground that belongs to no church. New Zealand law does not use "graveyard" at all. The Burial and Cremation Act 1964 sorts burial land into cemeteries, denominational burial grounds, private burial grounds and Māori burial grounds, and the burial ground most families deal with today is a cemetery run by a council.

What each word means

A cemetery, under the Burial and Cremation Act 1964, is land set apart exclusively for the burial of the dead generally. In practice that means the public burial ground that a council provides and runs. The Act makes it a local authority's duty to establish and maintain a suitable cemetery where enough burial provision does not already exist (section 4), and says every cemetery is open for the burial of all deceased persons, with whatever ceremony the family thinks proper, or none (section 6). The common word "graveyard" and its cousin "churchyard" do not appear anywhere in the Act. What people usually mean by them, a burial ground tied to a church, is closest to the Act's denominational burial ground: land outside a cemetery's boundaries that is set apart for the burial of members of one or more religious denominations (Burial and Cremation Act 1964, section 2).

So the answer to the search question has two layers. In ordinary speech, the difference is the church. In New Zealand law, the difference is who the land is set apart for and who runs it.

The four kinds of burial ground in the Act

Kind	What the Act says	Who runs it
Cemetery	Land set apart for the burial of the dead generally (section 2)	Usually a local authority (section 5)
Denominational burial ground	Land outside a cemetery, set apart for one or more religious denominations (sections 2 and 31)	The person or people who hold the land, as managers; the Minister can appoint others at the holder's request or with their consent (section 32)
Private burial ground	Land declared a private burial ground under the Cemeteries Amendment Act 1912 (section 2)	Trustees appointed by the Minister (section 34)
Māori burial ground	Land set apart as a burial ground under Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993 (section 2)	Outside this Act, which applies to them only where it says so (section 3)

The Act also lets a council set aside a portion of its own cemetery for one denomination, which can be fenced and consecrated by that denomination (sections 11 and 12). A council cemetery can therefore contain a section for one faith without being a church burial ground; council fee schedules list Hebrew and Muslim areas in Auckland and denominational areas in Wellington. Our urupā guide covers Māori burial grounds.

Can anyone be buried in a church burial ground?

Not automatically. A denominational burial ground is set apart for members of that denomination, and the Act does not compel one to take a person who was not a practising member at the time of death (section 46). Some are also closed. The Minister can close a cemetery or burial ground by a notice in the Gazette, with at least six months before it takes effect, and it is then generally unlawful to bury there (section 41). There is one important exception. Where someone was already buried in a site before it was closed, a surviving husband, wife, civil union or de facto partner, parent, child, brother or sister can still be buried in the same plot, though a denominational burial ground need not take someone who was not a practising member of that denomination (section 42(2)). A closed cemetery must be kept in good condition and stays open to the public, and it cannot be sold or put to another use (section 43).

If you are asking about a particular historic churchyard, closing is done by ministerial notice, not by a council bylaw, so the only reliable answer comes from the council, the parish or the Gazette notice. One rule of the Act applies in both council cemeteries and church burial grounds: no body may be buried under a church, chapel or crematorium, or within 5 metres of its outer wall (section 9).

Are there private graveyards in New Zealand?

The Act still provides for private burial grounds declared under the Cemeteries Amendment Act 1912, run by trustees the Minister appoints, and it limits who can be buried in each one (sections 33 to 36). New ones cannot be made: Health NZ says "You cannot set up private burial grounds." Subject to exceptions in sections 47 and 48, burying a body on land that is not a cemetery or another recognised burial ground is unlawful if a cemetery or recognised burial ground is within 32 kilometres of where the death happened or the body is taken from. Beyond that distance, notice must go to the nearest District Court Judge within 3 days of the burial (section 46). Those rules are why a home or farm burial is the exception, not a routine option. We could not find a published list of private burial grounds still in use.

Plots, fees and perpetual maintenance in a council cemetery

A council can sell the exclusive right of burial in part of a cemetery, either in perpetuity or for a limited period (section 10). That right lapses if 60 years pass with no burial in that plot (section 10(4)). Councils set the scale of fees by bylaw and can control burial times and the depth of graves (section 16).

What a plot costs depends mostly on the council and the cemetery. These are the totals of plot plus interment (plus any bundled fee) for an adult weekday burial, as each council published them:

Council	Plot plus interment	Notes
Christchurch City Council	$3,460	2026/27; full-size plot $2,071 plus weekday interment $1,389
Nelson City Council	$4,760	2026/27; adds $2,312 to the plot for non-residents
Dunedin City Council	$6,082.40	2026/27; main cemeteries, includes a one-off service (maintenance) fee of $1,157.90
Auckland Council, Manukau Memorial Gardens	$6,770	Lawn right $5,360 plus interment $1,410; the page prints no fee year
Tauranga City Council, Pyes Pā	$8,426	2026/27; the plot price of $6,388 includes maintenance in perpetuity

Sources: each council's published fees, read on 20 October 2026. The bundles are not like for like, so do not rank councils from this table. FDANZ's 2025 sample of 15 councils averaged $4,865 for a council burial, from $1,455 in Taupō to $7,207 in New Plymouth (FDANZ 2026 Industry Trends Report, page 17). Our burial plot cost guide explains each council's fee lines, and what interment means explains the interment fee.

Some councils charge maintenance up front and some bundle it. Ask the council office for the written fee schedule and what it includes before you reserve a plot.

Lawn, natural and other sections

Council price lists show different sections within one cemetery; the Manukau figure above is for a lawn burial right. A natural burial section is different. Auckland's Waikumete natural burial area, for example, allows an untreated casket or a natural-fibre shroud and no embalming; Wellington's Mākara natural burial requires a biodegradable casket and plants a native tree at each plot. See our natural burial cost guide for fees. If you are weighing burial against cremation altogether, see burial vs cremation.

Paying for a plot

A plot and interment fee counts as a funeral expense. The Work and Income Funeral Grant lists burial fees, including plot and interment, among the costs it treats as reasonable, though the grant is capped at $2,697.43 (as at 20 October 2026) and has its own tests (Work and Income: Funeral Grant). Our funeral costs hub sets the plot beside the other bills, and our funeral insurance guide covers one way to plan ahead. The buttons on this page lead to Momentum Life products; they sit below the main content on purpose, because most readers of this page are not ready to buy anything.

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Adviser's view

The difference matters less in New Zealand than the words suggest. The 1964 Act sorts burial land into cemeteries, denominational, private and Māori burial grounds, and the burial ground most families deal with is a council cemetery. If you are looking at an old churchyard, ask the council or the church whether it has been closed, and whether a family plot you own can still be used.

Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). General information, not personalised financial advice.

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Cemetery vs Graveyard in NZ: What the Law Says. www.quotehub.co.nz/guides/when-someone-dies/cemetery-vs-graveyard-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.