ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

A COMMUNAL memorial site for the victims of the Victorian Black Saturday bushfires may be established to hold remains of those unable to be identified or any fragments of remains uncovered in the future.

By Mark Dunn | While a decision on communal memorials or shrines is yet to be made, individual families will decide on where and how the remains of loved ones are handled.

Authorities are confident there are no more victims to be found, but there is a chance fragments of human remains may be found in coming months or years as bushfire zones are rebuilt and resettled.

Other collected remains may never be formally identified because the intensity of the fires has made DNA testing in some cases ineffective.

The provisional toll for the February 7 disaster sits at 210.

The Victorian Coroner's office is using DNA, dental and other forensic technology to identify many of the remains, but it is a process that will take months.

It is expected that if further fragments of human remains are found after individuals have been buried, then families will have the option of having those remains interred with loved ones or placed in a communal site.

The Australian Funeral Directors Association's Victorian branch president, Martin Tobin, said that the establishment of a communal memorial site for fragments of individuals discovered in the future made sense.

He said the key was to have input from family members.

"These are the sorts of things people need to think about," Mr Tobin said.

"At the end of the day, the families involved are going to have to say how things are handled.

"But as a concept I think that sort of memorial seems to be a creative and logical way for those people who are dealing with fragments in the future to be able to handle things and give some people a place to visit."