A breakfast event at Parliament House Canberra on Wednesday has discussed the need to lift organ donation rates in Australia by allowing Australians to be able to register via their driver’s licence.
The Parliamentary Friends of Organ Donation co-chair Dr Anne Webster MP called on National Cabinet to discuss this important approach which will result in more donors in Australia.
“The evidence is clear in South Australia – the only state to have registration linked to driver’s licences. They have 73 per cent of their population aged 16 and over registered on the Australian Organ Donor Register, consistently having one of the highest consent and donation rates in Australia. Clearly recording donor status on driver’s licences makes a big difference,” Dr Webster said.
“Dr Mike Freelander (Labor, NSW) and myself (Mallee, Victoria) as co-chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Organ Donation – our states are well below these registration rates, with 41 per cent in NSW and just 23 per cent in Victoria.”
There are currently around 1,800 Australians on a waitlist for organ transplant, and around 14,000 more people on dialysis, many who may benefit from a kidney transplant.
Very few people have the opportunity to be an organ donor. Only 2 per cent of people that die in
To register for organ donation, visit www.donatelife.gov.au
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