Page 487 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 21 February 2012
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There are several ways in which you can make your decision clear. The organ donation register was established in 2000. It is the only national register of your decision to donate. The register ensures that medical personnel can access this decision seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Anyone over the age of 16 can register by visiting their website or by popping in to their local Medicare office. Not only does this make your decision about organ donation clear, but it also allows you to nominate just what you would like to donate.
You can donate organs—this includes your kidneys, heart, lungs, liver and pancreas—and tissue—this includes your heart valves, bone tissue, skin and eye tissue. Registering your decision allows you to make it clear to medical personnel about your decision. However, worryingly, the family consent rate in Australia is low. Fewer than 60 per cent of families give their consent for organ and tissue donation to proceed. This low consent rate is most likely linked to the fact that 43 per cent of Australians do not know or are unsure of their loved one’s wishes in regard to organ donation. It is important that we take time to discuss with our loved ones our decision to register.
A successful transplant not only increases the quantity of a recipient’s life but also increases the quality. It increases the time that they have to spend with their family, to enjoy time with their friends and to achieve their goals and aspirations. The bill today makes a small but significant enhancement to the organ and tissue donation program. I hope that these amendments, along with the continued advocacy in the community, will ensure that our organ and tissue donation rates continue to increase.
The Canberra Liberals will be providing their support for this bill today. I look forward to participating in the DonateLife walk around Lake Burley Griffin tomorrow and I look forward to seeing a number of you there.
MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (11.44): The ACT Greens will be supporting the Transplantation and Anatomy Amendment Bill. Organ donation is an ongoing issue of concern in Australia, as the rate of donations is low compared to some other countries. We have spoken in the last 12 months in the Assembly about the impact of organ donation on the community, so I will focus my comments today on the areas of reform that are being discussed in the bill.
The key elements of the bill are fairly simple and straightforward. They include expanding the number of designated officers in ACT hospitals who can approve organ removal for the purpose of donation and expanding the amount of tissue that can be removed for the purpose of a corneal transplant.
I note and appreciate the role of the ACT organ and tissue donation task force whose purpose recently has been to consider the manner in which the ACT could improve its donation rate. It is their recommendations which have resulted in the legislation today. I would be interested if the task force has put forward any other recommendations to the government, because places such as New South Wales are considering other reforms that do go a bit further than what we are seeing today.
A discussion paper released in December 2011 by New South Wales Health puts forward several proposals, the most topical being an opt-out donation system.
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