Welcome to Matters of Life & Death

Matters of Life and Death offers comprehensive care and support in areas related to issues of significant loss, grief, and bereavement. This involves accompanying and helping empower individuals, their families and loved ones through all stages related to end of life issues, with a view of death being a natural and inevitable part of life.

It also includes information and education, particularly around natural death care, spiritual and emotional support, end of life care planning, family planned and lead funerals, and bereavement assistance.

Talking about death, becoming more death literate, seeking support, accessing knowledge, information, guidance and planning, can demystify death helping alleviate many fears and anxieties, leading to healthier bereavement.

The natural death care movement aims to assist people and their communities become more death literate, as we once were.  This means being empowered in knowing the how’s of supporting the wishes of ourselves, our loved ones and communities in the many available options to approaching death and death care.

Other services offered include professional Marriage Celebrant, Spiritual Care, Counselling and Clinical / Pastoral Supervision.

About

Nic Aunger

I have a broad and complementary background in a range of professional support modalities in which to work with you.   I am a qualified Educator, Counsellor, Spiritual Carer, End of Life Doula, Celebrant, and Clinical / Pastoral Supervisor.

I have a really strong connection with nature and the natural cycles of life.  As an outdoor leader and educator for over 25 years, my appreciation of the interconnectedness of all things is an experiential reality.

From a young age the connection to something much greater than myself came through spending time in nature and an interest in the ‘spiritual’ side of my life – particularly following the sudden death of my father when I was 21.  This has directed me into the vocation that I find myself in today.

Following a career in the outdoors I retrained as a counsellor, with a particular focus in issues of loss, grief, and bereavement.  This led onto further training in spiritual care and theology, and employment as a Spiritual Care Practitioner in a major private hospital in Melbourne, specialising in Oncology.  I am currently the Pastoral Care Coordinator in a private hospital in rural Victoria.

Alongside my training in the healthcare sector, I have a passion and interest in the resurgence of the natural death care movement.  I aim to help empower and support individuals, their family and loved ones around all issues and the choices available to them, related to dying, end of life care, and death.  I am also a Buddhist Chaplain, and authorised Celebrant for the Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils, and conduct Weddings.

My work is informed through 23 years of study and practice in Tibetan Buddhism.  From this basis I wish to support and assist people on their life journey, through a practice of kindness, compassion, love and understanding.  Meditation has not only become an important part of my own daily practice in wellbeing, but also informs the work that I do with others.  This includes conducting ceremony; facilitating individual and group meditation sessions; and retreats.

Qualifications

  • Graduate Certificate in Professional Supervision (2021), St Marks Theological Centre
  • Authorised Celebrant, Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils (2018)
  • Independent Funeral Celebrant Training, The Celebrant Training College (2017)
  • Graduate Certificate in Theology, University of Divinity (2017)
  • Funeral Master Class Training, Natural Death Care Centre (2016)
  • Deathwalker Training, Natural Death Care Centre (2015)
  • Multi-Faith Program Spiritual Health Victoria & the Vic Multicultural Commission (2013/14)
  • 2 Units Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (2013)
  • Buddhist Chaplaincy, Buddhist Council of Victoria (2013)
  • Graduate Diploma of Counselling, Australian College of Applied Psychology (2012)
  • Graduate Diploma in Education, Hawthorn Institute of Education (1994)       
  • Bachelor of Arts  (Outdoor Education), Latrobe University (1993)                   

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