Religious communities are calling on the New South Wales Government to urgently find and allocate more burial plots with the lack of space reaching a critical situation.

Vic Alhadeff from the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies said a parcel of land at Rookwood Cemetery in western Sydney being consecrated today would extend the burial space for Jewish people for another four years.

But the new space was only made available in exchange for ceding a section of a Jewish lot to the Muslim community, because their shortage was even more dire.

"We worked closely with the Lebanese Muslim Association, we worked closely with the Rookwood General Cemeteries Trust and as a result, the needs of both communities were met, albeit for a short period," he said.

"Other cemeteries are running out of Jewish space and with the addition of the land which is being consecrated today at Rookwood it will give the Jewish community one decade more of burial space," he said.

"Up until then, there will be no more Jewish burials at other cemeteries at metropolitan Sydney as availability of land for Jewish burial is fast running out elsewhere."

He said it was a critical issue not only for the Jewish community, but for the Muslim community and a number of Christian communities as well.

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"What is needed is a major multi-faith cemetery — in effect a second Rookwood. It needs to be sufficient to provide enough burial land for the next century."

A government report prepared in November 2017 found:

Over 1.5 million persons are projected to require burial or cremation in metropolitan Sydney between 2015 and 2056, with over 355,000 grave plots projected to be required from 2015 to 2056

Over 1.5 million persons are projected to require burial or cremation in metropolitan Sydney between 2015 and 2056, with over 355,000 grave plots projected to be required from 2015 to 2056 By 2056, around 11,800 new grave plots would be consumed in metropolitan Sydney per annum, requiring around four hectares of cemetery burial land

By 2056, around 11,800 new grave plots would be consumed in metropolitan Sydney per annum, requiring around four hectares of cemetery burial land If there is no change to existing cremation and grave occupancy rates, cemetery capacity in metropolitan Sydney would be exhausted by 2051, if not before

If there is no change to existing cremation and grave occupancy rates, cemetery capacity in metropolitan Sydney would be exhausted by 2051, if not before Unavailability of grave plots in "at-need" circumstances would particularly disadvantage: families with insufficient resources to pre-purchase, and communities with cultural and religious commitments to burial rather than cremation

Chief Executive Officer of Rookwood Cemetery, George Simpson, said space was now at a premium.

"Some communities have less than 20 years left. Today's events will allow us to continue to provide burial spaces for both Jewish and Muslim communities for around the next 8 to 10 years.

"That's five to midnight in terms of where we are so land acquisition is critical for us to continue to provide burial spaces for those communities who don't have any option other than to bury their loved ones and relatives."

Lands and Forestry minister, Paul Toole, said the NSW Government was working closely with cemetery operators to identify suitable land for burial plots.

"When people are burying their loved ones, people deserve dignity and people deserve respect and we know that we must look at future needs of burial land space here in NSW," he said.

"We need to make sure it is multi-faith. There are many cultures many faiths here in this state and we need to make sure we cater for each of them."

But he stopped short of suggesting sites to be earmarked for burial land.

"We must choose the right space but we also must be planning ahead. We cannot be looking at space when it is just about gone. We need to make sure that we are thinking 20 to 50 years ahead for burial space here in the state."

But Mr Alhadeff said a number of spaces that had been looked at have not come to fruition.

"Part of the problem is that the lead time from finding a parcel of land to making it available for burial is around six years. And that long lead time compounds the urgency of the situation."