Cashed-up baby boomers are thumbing their noses at tradition and ending their lives on their own terms, pre-planning their deaths by engaging death doulas, visiting death cafes and even opting for burial without a coffin.

Key points: Doulas are helping dying people deal with clutter and paperwork

Doulas are helping dying people deal with clutter and paperwork Many baby boomers opting for non-traditional burials and memorials

Many baby boomers opting for non-traditional burials and memorials Palliative Care Queensland is calling for clear guidelines for death doulas

Enterprising businesses are cashing in on a "silver tsunami" about to wash over Australia as the over-65 population continues to grow.

Australia has 3.7 million people who are 65 and older, a number set to double in the next 40 years, according to a recent Grattan Institute report.

Leigh Cusack recently quit her job as a personal assistant to work as a Brisbane-based death doula, helping people organise the end of their life.

Death doulas take care of aged care assessment forms, wills, funeral planning, and carry out de-cluttering "death cleans" by assisting dying people and their families to prepare for death.

"One of my most recent clients was a gentleman who was diagnosed with cancer and given three months to live," Ms Cusack said.

"I helped him organise his paperwork, an advanced health directive, his will and his power of attorney, just so his paperwork was sorted and wasn't going to be a burden on his family.

"Then when he became very ill we managed to get him the right palliative care and he was able to die at home with his family around him … that was very healing for the family."

Ms Cusack said it was an honour to be personally involved in the end of someone's life.

"I have a lady who flew me to Melbourne for a week to clean out her house because she always felt guilty that she had boxes and boxes of things everywhere, so I spent a solid week going through it and she said she could die happily knowing she's not leaving a mess for her family."

Doulas have been around for thousands of years — often they were the wise women in a village who supported people in birth and death.

Death doula training is available online and at the Sydney-based Australian Doula College, though there is no governing body for end-of-life doulas in Australia, and no federal or state accreditation.

Death doula Leigh Cusack working with Colin and Bev Kendall on end of life documents. ( Supplied: Leigh Cusack )

Helen Callanan, an end-of-life doula and educator, estimates there are about 30 death doulas working in Australia.

"A death doula is a non-medical role that provides support for those dying and those around them," she said.

"Facing the end of life of someone you love or care for is often a very challenging, confusing and overwhelming journey, and there are never going to be enough beds in hospitals or aged care centres to cope with what's coming.

"So death is going to have to go back into the home."

'Clear guidelines are needed'

Ms Callanan said death doulas did not attempt to carry out the work of doctors and nurses.

"I'm like an event planner for people navigating the world of death," she said.

"The baby boomers in particular want options for death, like sustainable and environmentally friendly burial options."

People gathered at a recent death cafe event in Brendale on Brisbane's northern outskirts. ( Supplied: Karen Blue )

But Palliative Care Australia expressed concerns about death doulas preying on vulnerable people.

Palliative Care Queensland CEO Shyla Mills said she wanted clear guidelines established for the involvement of doulas in end-of-life care.

"One of the biggest risks when you are not an accredited organisation is that it's difficult to assess the quality of the service that is provided," she said.

"We would like to see really clear guidance on what services they [death doulas] are providing, so it's really clear for the individual what the palliative care service is providing and what the death doula's role is.

"We see people at the end phase of their life, they are quite vulnerable at that point, so that's where there's a risk associated with using death doulas."

Ms Mills said there was a role for doulas, but that they needed to be accredited.

"A big part of home-based palliative care is about having a network of support around you, and often people don't have those networks around them and that's where death doulas can really play a part."

Shallow burials on the rise

Independent funeral director Libby Moloney said baby boomers were also opting out of traditional burials.

"There are a lot of people looking to leave with as gentle a footprint as they can," she said.

"You can be buried without a coffin in a shrouded burial, where the body is wrapped in beautiful organic fabric and laid into the earth directly."

Ms Moloney said some people who did want a coffin were opting for more environmentally friendly options.

"The most common are a sustainably harvested timber coffin with rope handles and wicker coffins, which break down really well," she said.

Ms Moloney said shallow burials were also increasingly popular.

"From an environmental perspective, the body breaks down more cleanly and more quickly at a shallower level of earth and the reason for that there is oxygen in the soil at that level."

A burial shroud that can be used instead of a coffin. ( Supplied: Lisa Herbert )

Brisbane author Lisa Herbert wrote a book about the changing approach to planning for death — The Bottom Drawer Book: The After Death Action Plan.

"This generation (baby boomers) want to take things into their own hands because of a possible distrust of the funeral industry, and also they have the financial ability to take control and do things their way," she said.

Ms Herbert said baby boomers were not afraid to talk about death and even took that conversation to "death cafes".

"It's a worldwide phenomenon and it is literally people sitting around drinking coffee and eating cake and having a conversation about death," Ms Herbert said.

"There could be a funeral director present, a death doula, an aged care worker … people who know about the industry and about these topics and people can ask any questions."

From beyond the grave

Ms Herbert said new technology had also changed the way people remembered the dead.

An Australian company has developed an app that tells a person's life story from their graveside.

"It's a little white disc that sits on a grave or a memorial site, and the information is relayed via bluetooth technology to an app on your phone and you can scroll through photos … you can hear their favourite music, you can even hear voice recordings of the deceased," she said.

Ms Herbert also said natural burial grounds were now found in most states and territories.

"There are no graves as such and no grave markers and your family only knows exactly where you are via GPS coordinates."