Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There are probably a lot of us in this chamber who have registered as organ donors, but there's probably not a lot of us who will ever be able to be organ donors, because very few people actually can be when they die. A person has to die in hospital in specific circumstances in an intensive care or emergency department as the organs still need to be functioning well to be considered for transplantation. So only about two per cent of people who die in Australian hospitals meet the criteria to be an organ donor.

That's why this legislation is so key. The more we can encourage people whose relative or family member has been able to donate, the more we can encourage them to talk about it, where they are comfortable to do so, to share the message of what that organ donation meant to them. Then, the more likely we are to build up the numbers so that there is a greater number of people who are willing to do this and whose families know they are willing to do it.

In terms of the actual numbers, in 2022 around 1,400 people of the 80,000 people who died in Australian hospitals died in a way where organ donation could be considered. Requests to families for donation were made in 1,300 cases. Of these, 700 families said yes. That is about 54 per cent, and that's the data we're hoping to shift so that more people say they're willing and more families are in a position to say yes when they're asked.

This bill allows authorised family members to give consent to the disclosure of information about an organ and tissue donor. Around the country, all sorts of different rules make that easier or harder in different places. But this will allow the staff of, for instance, DonateLife or the OTA to obtain consent from an extended list of family members of a deceased donor before including information about the donor in their promotional and educational activities. As someone who has worked with a lot of not-for-profit organisations and who knows that the human face of an issue is one of the most powerful ways to spread the word, I can absolutely see the benefit in this legislation. It makes me wonder why we didn't have it sooner—but I'm delighted we're working through this now.

I think it's important to stress that while the privacy components of this bill will make it easier for family members to give consent, there are still very strict privacy rules around organ donation. This bill maintains all the safeguards in regard to privacy that are vital to the functioning of the best-practice organ and tissue donation system that we can have. It will not facilitate direct contact between donor families and organ and tissue recipients, and all governments are committed to continuing to protect the rights of both donor families and transplant recipients who wish to remain anonymous.

So, what this really does is give people choice. It's part of several things we're doing in our first year in government to lift awareness and rates of registration. I note that the minister recently announced that six groups will share nearly $400,000 in community awareness grants to boost awareness about organ and tissue donation, particularly to the 16- to 25-year-old age group, who have the lowest organ and tissue donor registration rates across the nation. Only 10 per cent of the 3.2 million eligible young adults are currently registered. So, if you're listening to this speech right now and you've got your phone handy, it's a perfect opportunity to jump onto DonateLife and register your interest in being an organ and tissue donor. Even easier, go to your Express Plus Medicare app and tap it three times, and you'll be there. In the big scheme of things, this piece of legislation is not massive, but it actually could make a real difference to a lot of people, as could your decision to register as an organ tissue donor. I commend the bill to the House.

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