That's according to people who have been through the ordeal of waiting weeks for their loved one's remains to be returned.

Gundagai resident Jill Jones was left waiting for 15 days to bury her son Mark after a tragic car accident in July 2017.

"Families are being caught up in this; we had two fellas die tragically here not too long ago and both those boys had to go away (to Newcastle)," she said.

"They had to wait an incredible amount of time for the burials.

"It's not getting any better, it seems to be getting more prevalent." 

NSW Health Pathology has apologised to a family in Orange after delays at Newcastle Department of Forensic Medicine caused a funeral to be rescheduled multiple times.

Statewide clinical director of forensic medicine Dr Isabel Brouwer said Newcastle was "currently managing an unprecedented number of coronial post-mortem cases".

"This is a short-term situation and we are prioritising cases by complexity and urgency, with homicide and paediatric cases the most urgent," she said. 

"This is due to the need to secure critical evidence for criminal cases and provide urgent answers to grieving families.

"We are deeply sorry for the distress delays are causing some families and we will continue to do all we can to support them and get them the answers they need."

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Wagga MP Joe McGirr said he raised the issue with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian this week.

"I know Wagga families have been caught up in the backlog," he said.

"It was an issue that I raised with the Premier when I met with her on Tuesday, as I was disappointed there hasn't been more progress on this.

"To be fair, I think she recognises this is a major issue for the state."

Dr McGirr said more training in areas like Wagga could help build up the skills necessary to handle more autopsies in the region where the deaths occurred.

"I think that you can undertake some of this work locally with support via telehealth from specialists," he said.

"I think an examination of the process involved, the delays and the staffing and the care provided to families could also help."

Dr Brouwer said the procedures were performed at Newcastle due to their complex nature.

"Coronial post-mortems in the event of an unexplained or unexpected death...can only be performed by highly qualified forensic pathologists who have undergone specialist training and certification," she said.

Dr Brouwer said the backlog was "compounded by an international shortage of forensic pathologists, which is affecting coronial timeframes in other parts of Australia and the world. 

"They are challenging to recruit, particularly to rural and regional areas," she said.

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