Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm also glad to speak in support of the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Amendment (Disclosure of Information) Bill 2023 and the changes that it makes. There's no doubt that this is an area of health policy, program and practice in Australia that needs to be improved because of the remarkable benefits that come from making donated organs available to people who are very, very unwell.

As others have noted, we can do more to lift the rates of donation and, therefore, the incredible outcomes that can be delivered. In 2022, 80,000 Australians passed away, and only 1,400 of those were eligible to be donors. That's only two per cent. Out of those 1,400, in 54 per cent of those cases, families agreed with the deceased person's wishes and allowed them to become a donor. That rate of 54 per cent did decrease slightly from 2021 to 2022. That is something of an indication of what my colleagues have said about the difference that will occur when, in addition to people making the choice to be an organ donor, they also have that conversation with their family and friends, but specifically with their family, so that there is family consent. When you consider that those 700 organ donors translated into 1,200 recipients, if we could lift the rate of family consent for those people who have already made that very generous decision to be organ donors, then we will start to see life-saving opportunities provided to people who might otherwise very quickly find themselves literally at death's door.

It wasn't that long ago I had an opportunity to catch up with Robert Manning. Robert Manning will be known to the member for Dobell. I heard of Robert Manning because of his interest in the Tuggerah Lakes community project. Robert Manning was an organ donor recipient. He's a person who has one of those incredible stories about how he got very ill very quickly and benefited from organ donation. His illness would probably otherwise have meant the end of his life. All of us have heard stories like that. All of us know of the life-changing, life-saving reality that comes with organ donation if that's what you need to survive.

I first became interested in donation because of something that was pioneered in Fremantle: the paired live kidney exchange. That obviously involves live donors, so it's not a matter of consent with respect to people who lose their lives. It is a fascinating example of how we can make changes like the ones made in this bill, which improve the opportunities for these kinds of 21st century medical miracles to be delivered. With kidney donation people can donate one of their kidneys to someone who needs it. There are often family members who are prepared to do that, but only 30 per cent of people who are prepared to donate to a family member—a brother, a sister or even a spouse—are compatible. So even if you have a willing live donor it doesn't necessarily solve the problem for the person who needs that kidney. The genius of the paired live kidney exchange program is that you might have a pair of family members—two brothers, for instance. One brother is prepared to donate a kidney to the brother who needs it but isn't compatible. That kidney will be donated to the beneficiary in an opposite pairing that will be matched up. A fellow in Fremantle, Professor Paolo Ferrari, got that going more than a decade ago, and I believe it's now an Australia-New Zealand joint program that helps match up compatible donors with people who need kidneys.

The strongest message that I—and I think everybody in this debate—would give is for people to think very carefully about how remarkable it is for you to decide to be an organ donor. You can literally give the gift of life and health to another human being. I don't think there is any greater gift you could give. That's step one. Step two is making sure your family understands that that's your wish so they are able to consent to that if that comes.

I'll be the first to put my hand up and say I'm not the most technologically advanced person. I didn't know that you could go through the Express Plus Medicare app and make that decision with a few clicks on your smartphone. I've been a card-carrying organ donor since some time ago. I think that people could take the time today—amongst checking their emails, their calendar, social media or the news—to go and download the Express Plus Medicare app, if they don't already have it, and make that choice. I will when I get out of here.

When you consider that there were effectively only 700 donors across Australia in the 2022 calendar year, we could see that rate of organ donation lift quite considerably. Every time that occurs there's the potential for seven recipients to benefit. I don't think it is hard to imagine. If you had a family member who was experiencing organ failure, being in that situation, knowing that if someone had been prepared to take the time to think about what they would like their legacy to be and made what I think is a really sensible act of human generosity, to choose to be an organ donor—don't leave it at that, because the family consent part is a vital piece of the equation. Talk to and encourage family members to consider it themselves. Talk with them sufficiently for them to understand that that is what you would like and that that is what you want one of your legacies to be at the time of your passing: that another member of the Australian community, and their family, will have their life changed. I can only imagine what it must be like for a person who is waiting, knowing that their own mortal clock is ticking fast, to get the phone call and to be told: 'Today is the day. There is a liver or another organ on which your life depends that is available.' It would be one of those weight-lifting, burden-lifting experiences. I can only imagine, though. Obviously nobody wants to be in that position.

This is something that both sides of politics have worked on consistently over time. As I say, there were changes made under the former Labor government. I'm glad that it was a focus of the coalition before. The minister and the assistant minister are carrying this work forward. I think this change will improve awareness and efficiency within the way the program works. I am hopeful that, through these changes, the way we talk about them and endorse them, we actually get that community participation in something that is life-changing and life-saving. On that basis, I'm very happy to speak in support of the bill.

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