John Dunn Funerals in Ararat said they have had to deal with a range of uncertainty as restrictions continue to change and described the process of limiting numbers as tough on families.

"How can you possibly decide who can and can't come to the funeral," the provider said.

"The effect on families has been cruel. Imagine the funeral numbers are limited to 10 and someone in your family sadly passes.

"In most cases the immediate family is 15-20 people.

"There has been a substantial effect on our industry. Throughout the different stages of restrictions the amount of people allowed to attend funerals has changed from 300 to 100, 50 and 10.

"Even when the total allowed is 300 due to social distancing rules some churches and halls can only fit 50 or 60 people.

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"Also the number of mourners attending funerals must be monitored, making sure everybody scans QR codes."

John Dunn Funerals said they have worked to provide alternative services regardless of the COVID-19 circumstances

"Keeping up to date with the restrictions has been a challenge. On numerous occasions tighter restrictions have come into place overnight, which resulted in the funerals being cancelled or cut back to less people," they said.

"We have been able to offer video recording and live-streaming for the people who cannot attend to still be included in the funerals.

There has been varying success with live-streaming as it's reliant on strong internet connection.

"As a result we are recording the funeral and uploading onto our website later the same day."

According to Browne Psychology principal psychologist Krystal Browne funerals play a critical part in the grieving process, and without them people can face challenges.

"It has been a lot more difficult for people, mainly because funerals provide a ritualised way to process grief," she said.

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"They provide that dedicated time and space to really feel your feelings and that has been missing for a lot of people over the last 18 months.

"In my practise I have seen more instances of unresolved grief or complicated grief, or depressive episodes precipitated by this unresolved grief.

"That has been a feature of patients coming through the door because they haven't had the normal grieving space and time and support around them."

Ms Browne said people need to find a way to feel their emotions to allow the grief cycle to process.

"Grief follows a bit of a cycle and you can go through different stages, before coming to a place of acceptance," she said.

"The therapy space provides people a dedicated place to feel it and talk about it.

"A good way is for people to find little rituals for yourself to remember that person, honour their life and their relationship to you.

"Whether that is through seeking support from family and friends or others that knew that person.

"We have got a lot of messaging about being socially distant, but I am trying to reframe that for people, because we can be physically distant, but we can still be socially connected."

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