Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

If you ask any member of this place why they got involved in politics and ran for parliament, they will tell you it was because they wanted to make a difference. The Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Bill 2008, even more than most we debate, is really about making a difference. For those Australians anxiously and desperately waiting for transplants, organ donation is the difference between daily battles with pain and illness and good health. For many, it is the difference between life and death. If this bill succeeds in its aims, we will see the rate of organ donation in this country increase and, with it, the number of lives saved and transformed by that most generous of gifts—a donated organ.

Before I go any further I want to record here my thanks to all those families who have lost loved ones and, in the midst of their grief and pain, were able to offer hope to other families through the gift of organ donation. What a brave and selfless thing to do and what a wonderful legacy to create for their deceased husband, mother, son or daughter: knowing that they have given another human being—someone they may have never met—a second chance at life. Pope Benedict himself has declared that he is an organ donor and once stated that organ donation was an act of love.

The question of organ donation has come before the parliament in a number of forms in recent years. I make a point of participating in those debates at every opportunity. I always give my support to those motions as they come before the House because we need to do everything we can to keep organ donation on the agenda and take every chance to raise awareness and encourage people to register as donors.

We all know the statistics about organ donation in Australia. They have certainly been brought forward in the debate on this bill. Studies have shown that almost 95 per cent of Australians support organ donation but, on the other hand, only about 30 per cent of us are registered organ donors. Currently, there are just over one million registered organ donors. We have an enviable record of success when it comes to transplant procedures but too many Australians are denied the opportunity of a transplant because they do not survive the wait for a suitable organ. Today, there are 1,800 people on waiting lists around the country. Sadly, an estimated 100 people die each year while waiting for an organ transplant due to the shortage of organ and tissue donors.

Australians are generous people. We are known for our big hearts and our willingness to help others, so our low rate of organ donation compared to other countries—Spain and the US are often quoted as examples—is very out of place. It is clearly not a question of our character but of getting our policies and practices right. It starts with education and awareness. We must also reorient the relevant sections of our health system to make organ donation an integral part of training and procedures.

I am absolutely delighted that organ donation has been given such a high priority by the Prime Minister and the government. In saying that, I am not suggesting for a minute that it was not supported by the previous government—I know that lifting the rate of organ donation is something strongly supported by both sides of the parliament and that the previous government had a range of policies aimed at achieving that—but the work of this government in taking on the recommendations of the National Clinical Taskforce on Organ and Tissue Donation earlier this year has made organ donation a genuine priority, and this bill seeks to put those recommendations into effect immediately.

The bill does that by establishing the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority. That was a key recommendation of the clinical task force. The authority will provide national leadership in organ and tissue donation and will drive, implement and monitor national reform initiatives and programs aimed at increasing Australia’s access to transplants. The authority will be spearheaded by a CEO who will report directly to the Minister for Health and Ageing. The CEO will be advised by the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Advisory Council. That council will be made up of individuals with expertise in organ and tissue donation and transplantation, health consumer issues, management and public administration.

This bill contains measures that, over the next four years to 2011-2012, will cost $151 million. That includes about $136 million of new money put towards these initiatives. About $24 million of that has been allocated to setting up the authority. The other measures include $67 million to fund dedicated organ donation specialist doctors and other staff dedicated to organ and tissue donation in public and private hospitals around Australia.

The value of that measure in increasing the coordination of organ donation and having those donation specialists in hospitals should not be underestimated. Its value is illustrated by the findings of a study in Victoria that was reported a few years ago in the Medical Journal of Australia. That study looked at 17,000 deaths in Victoria over a period of time. It found that, of those 17,000 deaths, there were 280 potential organ donors. However, in 60 of those cases organ donation was not requested from relatives at the time of the potential donor’s death. So there were missed opportunities that were identified in that study. If that is multiplied across Australia, it really highlights the need for better coordination and specialisation in organ donation within our hospitals and our health system.

The funding that this bill brings forward also includes $17 million in new funding for hospitals to meet the additional staffing, bed and infrastructure costs associated with organ donation; $13.4 million to continue national public awareness and education programs to increase knowledge about organ and tissue donation and transplantation and to build confidence in Australia’s donation for transplantation system; and $1.9 million to support the families of deceased donors. I know that all members would welcome that recognition of what donor families go through, not just dealing with the death of their loved ones but understanding what donation means, to support the families as they go through that very difficult time.

Other measures included in the bill are the creation of a national network of state and territory based organ and tissue donation agencies to facilitate the donation process. You would have to say that the low rates of donation in Australia are not through lack of trying or lack of goodwill, but there just has not been that coordination of all the various initiatives that are going on. We really need to have national leadership and national coordination so that we are all working at the level of best practice.

The measures also include an enhanced national training and education program for hospital and other staff involved in organ and tissue donation for transplantation and equitable, safe and transparent national transplantation processes to manage waiting lists and the allocation of donated organs. They also include support to create and maintain a national eye and tissue donation and transplantation network and other national initiatives, including living donation programs such as paired kidney exchange.

These measures are expected to establish Australia as a world leader in best practice organ donation for transplantation. The goal is to achieve a significant and lasting increase in the number of transplants in Australia. The reforms have been designed using international and national best practice models with a proven track record of maximising donation rates. The experience of several comparable countries demonstrates clearly that a coordinated and integrated national approach followed by sustained effort will, over time, see real improvements in organ donation and transplant rates. Again, my research over the years has shown that that is correct. Spain is clearly a good example of those practices.

This bill, and the measures included in it, has received widespread support. It has the endorsement of all states and territories through COAG, which is very important. Following the July meeting of COAG, a communique was released by all participants in that meeting which stated:

This package will aim to establish from 1 January 2009, a world-class comprehensive national system of organ and tissue donation, led by the Commonwealth and delivered in partnership with the States. These reforms will provide long-lasting and transformative benefits for the approximately 1,800 Australians in need of an organ transplant at any one time.

The 2020 Summit reinforced the need for a reinvigorated national approach to organ and tissue donation. This package builds upon international models of best practice in the clinical systems for maximising the number of organ and tissue donors, for promoting community awareness and for supporting donor families.

I think almost all my colleagues in the debate have urged Australians to register as donors—to register and then also to talk through that decision with their families. I saw a very good quote from the executive officer of Transplant Australia, Mark Cocks, in the Australian a couple of years ago. He talked about their experience and studies they have done that show that, if the potential donor has told their loved ones of their intent to be a donor, 80 per cent of the time the family will agree to the organ donation. But, if that person did not tell their family, the refusal rate was around 50 per cent. Our job as MPs is, of course, to register ourselves as organ donors and also to encourage our constituents to take that step and, importantly, to talk it through with their family.

I know all members support this bill’s passage through the House, with those 1,800 Australians on transplant waiting lists in our thoughts. This bill is for you, and we hope with all our hearts that it makes a difference to you and your families.

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