It was while watching television three years ago that Sandra van der Laan first started questioning the cost of funerals.

A program about the industry showed family after family still paying off a relative's funeral, years after they had died.

So when her 59-year-old sister Linda died unexpectedly just a few weeks later, the experience of those families was not far from Professor van der Laan 's mind.

"When [Linda] died she had no assets. So I rang the two local funeral service providers and was quoted about $6000 by each," Professor van der Laan said.

"The trouble was, I couldn't get a good idea about what that included."

A professor of accounting and Associate Dean to the University of Sydney Business School, Professor van der Laan's experience prompted her to conduct a national study into the Australian funeral industry, which she describes as "shrouded in secrecy".

The study found that the average basic funeral in Australia costs about $6000, despite the fact that all regulatory requirements related to the disposal of a body can be met for as little as $1200.

"Up-selling is common, with funeral directors basically hinting that if you loved the departed you should consider a more expensive coffin, which might be marked up by 1000 per cent," Professor van der Laan said.

She argues that it is the offer of total packages, in place of itemised quotes, that leads to inflated funeral costs.

"In the end, a lot of what you're paying for is the funeral director's fees [on average 39 per cent] and all they really do is organise to [transport] the body ... and the paperwork."

For her sister's funeral, Professor van der Laan managed to negotiate a total fee of $3742, however $2400 of that accounted for the directors "professional services fee".

After conducting market research and cold-call surveys of more than 100 funeral services providers in Australia, the report found it was "difficult and somewhat meaningless" to establish the price of an average funeral in Australia, due to the bundling of costs and the bespoke nature of funerals.

The report also highlighted the issue of unnecessary funeral insurance, on which $315 million was spent on just 437,274 active policies in 2014.

Professor van der Laan said the difficulties consumers faced was evidenced by the contrast in pricing gathered from online data and direct contact with providers.

For example, online, the average cost of a direct committal was $2215; however, providers contacted directly quoted an average price of $3346.

Similarly, the average cost of a budget funeral was $4132 according to online data, while the figure increased to $5646 when providers were contacted directly.

In Australia, 34 per cent of the metropolitan funeral market is controlled by the ASX-listed InvoCare.

The funeral services giant operates more than 39 brands, such as White Lady, Simplicity, Guardian, Hansen & Cole and W.N. Bull.

Professor van der Laan said trends suggested "using InvoCare increased the price for consumers".

An InvoCare spokesman said it provided full transparency across all areas of the business, agreeing that the average price for a funeral in Australia was $6000.

"The average professional services fee is around 39 per cent, and covers ... the funeral service ... all necessary certificates, transfer of the deceased and mortuary care," he said.

"A funeral service in Sydney for a burial can range from $6010 with Simplicity Funerals, to $8755 with Guardian Funerals to $9980 with White Lady Funerals."

Consumer advocate Christopher Zinn, said there was no denying that, "like the banks", there was a lot of market concentration in the funeral industry.

"Burying someone in the ground can be expensive whether we like it or not. But the system can be much more efficient in improving affordability," he said.

"More people want green burials, simpler, lower cost funerals. There is an emerging community sector and we are seeing new entrants."

The University of Sydney research made a number of recommendations, including for uniformity of regulations between states, greater information for consumers on alternatives, including "direct committal, not-for-profit and community service providers, as well as do-it-yourself options".