The far north Queensland community of Cairns will today gather to lay to rest eight young children who died in what is alleged to have been one of the country's most unspeakable massacres.
There were widespread scenes of grief and shock in the region after the four girls and four boys, aged two to 14, were found in their home on Murray Street, Manoora, on December 19.
The group will be laid to rest after a public funeral service at the Cairns Convention Centre, expected to be attended by around 3000 people including local, state and federal political leaders.
The families at the centre of the tragedy have been negotiating their way through cultural protocols over the past three weeks.
But the wider community had also handled the significant cultural challenges well, Cairns Mayor Bob Manning said.
"The community has certainly felt very strongly for these people," he told AAP on Friday.
"I think there's been a wonderful outpouring of support by the wider community to the families that have been affected and indeed the Torres Strait Island community."
The families have said the funeral marks merely another step in the grieving process and has appealed for the occasion to be approached with sensitivity.
"I believe that will then be another outpouring of grief," Mr Manning said.
"It's always very hard to go to funerals and ... so what really will count then is how we support the people in the period after the funeral."
