Page 1089 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 May 2020
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donation. I am pleased that the ACT government continues to support the Gift of Life’s important work of getting the message out to people and to the community, and promoting the Australian organ donor register.
I encourage all members, when we are able to gather again, to attend the next DonateLife walk. It is a powerful reminder of the importance of registering for organ donation. I also encourage all members to consider registering as organ donors if they have not already done so, and to have conversations with families and friends. The Gift of Life slogan states, “Have the chat that saves lives.” We know that when donation is possible, the main reason families decline to allow the donation to proceed is because they were unsure of the wishes of their loved ones. We need more Canberrans to talk about organ and tissue donation with their families and to register their donation decisions on the Australian organ donation register.
Increasing organ donation registration is critical because less than two per cent of people who die in hospital can donate an organ. Increasing the number of people register to donate increases the likelihood of saving lives. Since 2009 there have been 133 organ donors in the ACT. In 2019 the ACT had 10 organ donors, resulting in life-saving transplants for 32 Australians. Nationally, over the past 11 years more than 13,000 Australians have received an organ transplant, thanks to the generosity of more than 4,500 donors. However, at any given time across Australia there are around 1,600 Australians on transplant waiting lists, and a further 12,000 people on dialysis. There is more to do.
In 2019 there were 554 deceased donors across Australia. Their lasting contributions should be recognised and the donors’ families afforded the affirmation that their mother, father, brother or sister, son or daughter saved countless others. The bill before the Assembly would amend the act to allow the next of kin the option to request formal acknowledgement of the deceased’s donation of organs and tissue on the death register. This proposed amendment provides an additional avenue for the family and loved ones of the deceased to honour and recognise the deceased for their generosity. The proposed amendment to the act may provide further comfort to family and friends, which we know is critical to increasing our organ donation rates across the country. It provides another avenue for the community to formally recognise the gift provided.
Any change that can support families and recognise the individuals’ contributions to society is worthwhile. I acknowledge the amendments that have been foreshadowed by Minister Rattenbury, which we will be supporting. I understand that Ms Cheyne will also support the amendments, which will remove the recognition by the Chief Minister from legislation and make that an administrative process. The fact that Ms Cheyne thought that it would be an appropriate acknowledgement for families to have a letter from the Chief Minister, through whatever process is most convenient and appropriate for families, is a really important move forward for families of organ donors. It also reflects how deeply she cares about these issues and how hard she has worked to engage with families on what is going to work for them. I thank Ms Cheyne for bringing this bill to the Assembly and I commend it to the chamber.
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