Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to talk about organ donation. My colleagues and I have become very familiar with the work of DonateLife. ‘Discover, discuss and decide’ are three very critical elements, but, having worked in the health sector, I have seen that it is not so much the statistics—of 98 per cent of Australians having an awareness or of the number of recipients of organs and tissues—but the real, live issues around what families experience. There are challenging situations that occur when a member of the family makes a decision to donate their organs but has not discussed it with their family; a discussion occurs in the corridors of a hospital hallway where a family is hesitant to agree to the donation sought by the deceased.

That then causes angst in the decisions of doctors who, having based their understanding on having 10 recipients for the various organs and tissues, must then inform those families that what was a possibility has turned out to be unavailable. What I do like is the notion that we are pulling together as a community and as a society to develop awareness, to get people to commit and to get families to understand that the gift of life through organ and tissue donation has far-reaching consequences for the quality of life that an individual may experience.

I was taken aback by a man in Darwin—he came from one of the islands to the north—whom I heard talk at a conference about organ donation. He had been told that he had a kidney disease and that he would need treatment in Darwin hospital. He came to Darwin assuming that, under the broad heading of ‘a donor organ’ he would go into the hospital, have his operation, be given medication and be allowed out. He did not understand that that was not the process. He said: ‘My knowledge was limited and I would have liked there to be a comprehensive awareness program so that I knew what I was facing when I went in. I didn’t think that I would walk into a hospital and then for the rest of my life be married to a machine.’ He said, ‘I was married to my wife and my machine became my life-saving device.’

There are many Australians who live in the hope of tissue or organs becoming available in order to prolong not only their family life and their future within their community but also, more importantly, their capacity to contribute to the workplaces of Australia. I hope that, as DonateLife and many of us in this House continue to work towards the promotion of an organ and tissue donation mindset, many of those people who have waited for lengthy periods will have those periods reduced. Whilst we talk about 98 per cent of Australians having an understanding and an awareness, it is a matter of translating that into action that saves the lives of many and enhances quality of life.

I acknowledge the medical profession and the support people who dedicate so much time to providing services for people who are waiting on the organ recipient list as well as, certainly, those whose research has made transplants safer and patient recovery much speedier than it was in the past. I must admit that when I worked in both NSW Health and WA Health I was often moved when I walked through children’s wards to see children who were waiting for organs and parents who were living on hope. One parent said to me: ‘I live on the hope of somebody’s death. I don’t mean that in a morbid sense but in terms of prolonging the life of my child.’ That is a conundrum that many Australians face in this context.

So I pay credit to DonateLife. I think that the process they have commenced is to be highly commended. I am committed to donating both tissue and organs when I am deceased and I hope that that decision will enrich the quality of life of another 10 Australians. The consequence of our decision to be donors is far-reaching and enriches the lives of many. I compliment DonateLife on the work that they have embarked on and will continue over the next two decades and I hope to see the number of donors increase exponentially.

See this speech in context