Politics · Australia · 1 day ago
Sister discovers brother was buried in an unmarked communal grave
Roger Davies, a rough sleeper from Adelaide, was found dead in an abandoned house in Sydney in 2015.
In October that year, the New South Wales government buried him with four other people in a communal grave at Rookwood Cemetery.
His sister, Chantel Dubsky, was not told that he had died or where he was buried.
Police had information linking Davies to his family, and a DNA match confirmed his identity.
New South Wales rules required authorities to make efforts to find relatives before arranging a state-funded burial, and the government had promised to mark unmarked graves.
The Guardian later located Davies’ grave, which had no marker, and found that his family had not been told about it.
Dubsky says the family would have arranged for him to be cremated and brought back to Adelaide.
Roger Davies was buried with four others in an unmarked communal grave at Rookwood Cemetery in western Sydney.
His sister, Chantel Dubsky, was not told where he was buried and learned of his fate only after the burial.
The Guardian found Davies’ burial record in the cemetery’s online registry as part of its investigation into unmarked graves.
Davies’ body was found in an abandoned Sydney house in 2015, but his family was not told of his death for more than two years.
The New South Wales government had promised in 2013 to stop burying homeless people in unmarked graves.
- Who
- Roger Davies, a rough sleeper, and four others were buried in the plot. His sister is Chantel Dubsky.
- What
- Davies was buried in an unmarked communal grave, and his family was not told where he had been buried.
- When
- Davies was buried in October 2015. The Guardian found his burial record this year.
- Where
- Rookwood Cemetery in western Sydney, New South Wales.
- Why
- The four others were deemed unable to afford their own funerals. The article says Davies should not have been placed in the communal grave.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
We would have had him cremated and brought back to Adelaide. We weren’t even given that opportunity. Why?
It’s unspeakable. He shouldn’t be there in the first place.
There was no closure, there’s never going to be any closure.
The New South Wales government promised to stop burying homeless people in unmarked graves.
Davies and four others were buried in a communal plot at Rookwood Cemetery.
Police records indicate officers first contacted South Australian counterparts seeking a family contact number.
The Guardian found Davies’ final resting place and burial record as part of its investigation into unmarked graves.
- Burial date
- October 2015
- Burial place
- Rookwood Cemetery, western Sydney
- Communal plot
- Davies was buried with four others
- Sister
- Chantel Dubsky, in Adelaide
- Government promise
- New South Wales pledged in 2013 to stop unmarked burials


