Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on and support the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Amendment (Disclosure of Information) Bill 2023. While the member for Dunkley is still in the House I'll commend the comments she made, particularly in relation to us perhaps exploring an opt-out rather than an opt-in system for transplants and donations.

I will first speak about the bill briefly, and then I want to commend organ donation and registering for donation. I am registered. My husband is registered. We've had the conversation with our children. I've had the conversation with my parents as well. It is particularly important that as many Australians as possible do register for this.

The stated purpose of the bill is to amend the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Act 2008 to broaden the disclosure of information provisions. I note that the minister's second reading speech said:

Currently, there are provisions in both state and territory legislation, and the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Act 2008 that prohibit the sharing of some information related to deceased donors and recipients for the purposes of community awareness and other educational activities by the Organ and Tissue Authority and DonateLife agencies.

It also said the bill is intended to:

amend the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Act 2008 to allow the Organ and Tissue Authority, DonateLife agencies, grant recipients and authorised family members to publish, disseminate or disclose information about deceased donors for the purposes of the Organ and Tissue Authority's community awareness, educational or commemorative activities.

There's a list of authorised family members that the bill provides will now be included, but it is stated:

… that these amendments are not intended to facilitate direct contact between donor families and organ and tissue recipients. Governments intend to protect the right of both donor families and transplant recipients to remain anonymous—

where they wish to do so. So, to the extent to which I think the clear intent of the legislation is to encourage and facilitate organ donation and transplants, I support and commend this bill.

I'll just read out some statistics. I know that many in this place have spoken of these statistics already. This is from the DonateLife website:

Organ, eye and tissue donation saves lives, restores health and improves the quality of life for thousands of Australians each year. But did you know that only 2% of people who die in hospital each year can be considered for organ donation? One organ donor can save the lives of up to 7 people and help many more through eye and tissue donation.

In 2022, there were 1,477 deceased eye donors and 276 deceased tissue donors. The numbers were slightly down in that year. For corneal transplants, which help to restore sight and vision for many people, there were 2,340 recipients in that year, which was a slight decrease. In that regard, Sandra Jowlett, a very close friend of my mother, had a corneal transplant back in about the mid-eighties, I think it was, and it has made a very big difference to her life—she was a teacher—in terms of her being able to read and carry on with her teaching profession.

Fifty-four per cent of families said yes to donation in 2022. This was when they were asked in a hospital setting. Usually it is the case that families are asked when a family member has passed away, and there are very specific circumstances when a person dies in a hospital, in an ICU or ED ward, because organs need to be functioning well to be considered for transplantation. Only around two per cent of Australians who die in hospitals meet the criteria required to be organ donors. With those numbers being so low, it is so important that we have as many Australians as possible register now to consent to become a donor.

There are currently around 1,800 Australians waitlisted for a transplant and around 14,000 additional people on dialysis, some of whom may need a kidney transplant. So, again, the need for transplants and donations is growing and is urgent. While the majority of Australians seem to support organ and tissue donation, and that's appreciated, only around one in three, or 36 per cent of Australians, is registered to be a donor. It is not difficult to register. It is quite a simple process on the DonateLife website. As I said, I commend any members of this place who have not already registered to please consider doing so and to have that conversation with their families.

In that regard, I just want to speak briefly about a good friend of mine, the mayor of Liverpool, Ned Mannoun. In 2014 he donated his kidney to his then two-year-old son, Solomon. Solomon is now 11 years of age and is a typical, healthy 11-year-old, I'm glad to report. Ned and his wife, Tina, went through a very difficult time when Solomon was born. He was very, very ill. They went through the process of ascertaining whether or not there were suitable donors, and in the end it was Ned who was the best match. He said at the time that he would do anything he could and that he would 'never give up on his little boy'. At the time when Solomon received his transplant, he had never really enjoyed a bath or a swim. He had to be very careful even drinking water; it was an agonising process. So for that little boy who is now, as I said, a robust 11-year-old, turning 12 in September of this year, that eight-hour operation was literally life-saving and life-changing. I know there will be many others in my electorate have undergone this process. For that reason, I do again commend this legislation to the extent that it will help to promote organ donation and help save lives again, particularly the life of a little two -year-old boy, as he then was.

The bill is supported by the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party has a proud tradition of supporting organ donation. To that extent, I support this bill and commend it to the House.

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