Irrespective of the place of occurrence of the death, the first point of contact should be the doctor or the General Practitioner of the deceased. It is legally important for the doctor to sign a medical cause of death. There are, however, certain circumstances where it would not be legally possible for the doctor to sign a medical cause of death. In situations like these, the involvement of the police and the coroner becomes inevitable. The Minister or Priest may also be called upon, if that is considered appropriate.
The next point of contact, besides family and friends is the funeral director who is entrusted with the transfer of the body and making the desired funeral arrangements. A vast majority of deaths occur in hospitals and other care facilities where the people in authority take care of the medical formalities. If your loved one resides in a medical or aged care facility and you have arranged a funeral director, then you should let the members of the facility know about the same so that they can contact the funeral director when your loved one passes and is ready for collection.