Margaret May (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australian Organ Donation Awareness Week starts next Sunday, 18 February and continues to Saturday, 24 February. I have often spoken in this place about the need for Australians to register for organ donation. I think it is important to highlight organ donation, because hundreds of Australians suffer and die needlessly each year due to a shortage of organ and tissue donors.

To sign on for organ donation I think is one of the greatest gifts a person can give. However, I cannot stress strongly enough that, if you register, it is a subject you must talk over with your loved ones. Families are placed in a situation where they have to make a heart-wrenching decision when their loved one has just been pronounced dead. But if your family knows and understands your wishes, it will not be such a hard decision for a family to give their consent. Discussing it with your family beforehand takes away a lot of the pressure. It is my belief that if family members know and understand your wishes, they will follow through with your wishes when you do pass away.

When your loved one’s organs are donated in the midst of distress, dreadful shock and sadness, something positive and good happens. Your loved one’s corneas give sight to someone or your loved one’s kidneys can mean that someone can come off a dialysis machine. Organ donation makes a difference to everyday people’s lives. With organ donation people are given a second chance. It really is the gift of life, for without it people will die. But it is one form of generosity that cannot be spontaneous. Talk over your wishes with your loved ones, because if your family will not give its consent, organ donation will not go ahead, and it certainly will not continue to grow in this country.

There is another important point I want to raise about organ donation. Many people I speak to do not realise that marking your licence as an organ donor is no longer sufficient to carry out your wishes. The law changed over a year ago and people must now register with the Organ Donor Register. Registration forms are available from Medicare offices or by going to Medicare’s website. Organ donation is important and I very much hope people do not delay, that they register as soon as possible and that they remember to discuss their wishes with their loved ones. I would urge all my colleagues in this House to do something about Organ Donation Awareness Week next week in their own electorates with their Medicare offices and to spread the word amongst our communities that people must register for organ donation.