And an expected wave of deaths among the capital's ageing baby-boomers means the price of burials will continue to climb as more and more families choose the cheaper option of cremation.

From July 1, a burial at Gungahlin cemetery costs just over $5000 and at Woden the price is now $5450 after the ACT Cemeteries Authority increased the maintenance component of its fees by more than $400 per plot.

The price hike comes after The Canberra Times revealed last month that as Woden Cemetery neared capacity, pressure was mounting on the ACT government to build a new cemetery near Mugga Lane tip.

The authority said that it had been charging too little for maintenance.

Higher prices for cemetery plots will hit some religious faiths hardest since cremations are forbidden.

The authority's chief executive, Hamish Horne, said yesterday that a review of pricing found upfront maintenance fees had to be increased at Woden from $1293 to $1758. ''A review was done in 2011 in relation to maintenance, particularly perpetual maintenance, because in the ACT when you buy the right to bury someone, it's forever,'' Mr Horne said.

''Essentially what that review identified was that we weren't charging anywhere near enough money for the maintenance component.

''We had most of the other things covered OK but in maintenance we were still behind so we essentially needed to put our fees up quite a bit for the new people coming in.''

The cost of a plot includes the allotment itself, a charge for the burial, maintenance and a plaque.

''When people purchase a burial, they pay for all those things together so in terms of a total, we try to keep the fee rise under 10 per cent, overall,'' Mr Horne said.

But Mr Horne said he believed the dwindling number of Canberrans choosing burial for their deceased relatives meant that the ''user-pays'' system was appropriate.

''A really small and falling number of people chose burial so the whole of the community shouldn't have to pay what less than 30 per cent of people choose,'' Mr Horne said.

''About 26 per cent, based on last year, its roughly in that ball park.''

The authority conducted 560 burials in the 2011-12 financial year and Mr Horne said the expectation in the industry was that more members of the ageing baby boom generation would choose cremation over burial.

Most modern burials came from among older members of Christian communities and baby boomers were less typically religious.

''We're seeing the first of the baby boomer generation moving into their 70s and the majority of them are Australian-born or long-term residents, most people in the industry believe that they will cremate rather than bury,'' the chief executive said.

''Inevitably, because it's a user-pays system, there will be fewer burials.''