As a 69-year-old gay man and staunch LGBTQI advocate, the Equality Network founder understands the overwhelming fear his community faces when surrendering themselves to the deathcare industry.

Throughout the decades, LGBTQI people have been discriminated against in life only to be made invisible in death.

Mr Price is leading the charge to change that.

"I'm an elder, so my experience is very different from someone who's 18 and has a million support mechanisms in place ... and has never been through what it's like to be arrested for being gay, for example," he said, his voice thick with emotion.

"(From experience comes) some of that distrust of authority figures, such as doctors, police, absolutely the church, or even places that are faith-based that are hospitals or palliative care places - they scare the bejesus out of people like me."

The problems with deathcare's deep-seated heterosexual bias extend from having only binary options on official forms, to overt discrimination and ignorance forcing people to hide their sexuality, Mr Price said.

He has spoken to many in the community who say they would rather take their own lives than go into care and face discrimination from staff, volunteers and residents.

People are misgendered at their own funerals or might avoid showing affection and expressing themselves out of fear, he said.

There is also a lack of visibility of LGBTQI people at cemeteries and memorial parks - an issue dedicated interment spaces and ceremonies could fix.

"All we want is a rainbow space, then if we choose to be, we can all be together in death as a community," Mr Price said.

"Just like ethnic cultures have their cultures recognised, we have our culture recognised rather than stigmatised and associated with shame."

Australian Funeral Directors Association members agree to a code of professional conduct, including that they provide services without regard to gender or sexual orientation.

Palliative Care Australia says quality care should be available to everyone with life-limiting conditions, including LGBTQI people and their self-designated family.

It should be accessible, inclusive, affirm people's right to dignity and respect and be provided in a safe environment without fear of discrimination, the organisation has said in a joint position statement with the National LGBTI Health Alliance.

Funeral director in-training Hini Hanara supports Mr Price's push for a dedicated LGBTQI space at Melbourne's The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust Harkness development, Victoria's largest cemetery project in 100 years.

Both claim their calls have fallen on deaf ears, while the trust says it is committed to creating a truly inclusive site where people from all communities can commemorate their loved ones.

"Being an Indigenous person of colour, being queer - the world is not designed for me, the world is really geared against those intersections," Hanara said.

"If we look around at the current service offerings in the funeral industry, it's all still very cis, white-owned, family owned and operated, which (goes back to) colonial privilege.

"Let's be honest - nothing Christian has ever supported the LGBT community, so for me anyway, there's a big red flag of, 'I wouldn't be safe in this place'."

As society moves towards greater acceptance of LGBTQI people, however, so too does the deathcare industry as a product of society, funeral director Fran Webber said.

She joined Tobin Brothers in the mid-1990s as an out lesbian and her sexuality was a non-issue with management and colleagues, despite the company's Catholic roots.

Ms Webber acknowledges there is still a long way to go in the industry, but she urges LGBTQI people to have a little faith and to not be afraid to be part of the change.

"In the funeral industry, in life - there's still an assumption of heterosexuality with most people," she said.

"But it has changed out of sight in the last five years, compared to the 20 years before that."

Both Mr Price and Ms Webber support greater LGBTQI education in the deathcare industry.

The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust is including community contributions in its Harkness project design, which is yet to be completed. Construction is expected to start next year.

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Australian Associated Press