Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In speaking to this issue tonight, I want to consider how our reform agenda is progressing and what needs to be done to ensure that Australia is a world leader not only in transplant surgery but also in the number of organ and tissue donations that we are able to retrieve. It is a sad fact that many people are still unable to access this life-changing and life-saving surgery as we do not have enough organ and tissue donors. When I spoke previously on this issue, I noted that we were on the road to a record year. Indeed, that occurred in 2010, with 309 multiorgan donors who saved or improved the lives of 931 people. That is a 50 per cent improvement on the last 20 years, during which the numbers had flat lined at around 200 multiorgan donors. There were many more tissue donors who helped transform donors. Tissue donation is as important as organ donation. It helps sight to be restored and hearts to keep beating.

The outcomes for 2011 are also showing the likelihood of further steady improvement as we had already had 141 multiorgan donors as at 31 May, resulting in 416 transplants. At the same time last year, we had achieved about 110 donors, with 347 transplants. By any assessment, this improvement is significant. We now have clinical staff in 77 hospitals across Australia and coordinating staff in all jurisdictions. Prior to last year, which was our first full year of operation under the reform agenda, these staff were not available. They have certainly made a difference in identifying potential donors and ensuring that clinical staff are able to approach each and every family.

Death audits are undertaken and we know as a result of these audits that 100 per cent of potential donors are identified, with a consent rate of 70 per cent. Our objective, of course, is to reach a 100 per cent consent rate, so that everyone who is approached will agree to donate their loved one's organs.

We also know that many hospitals now are identifying potential donors and calling in retrieval teams, which has not occurred in the past. For example, we know that Calvary hospital in Canberra has had a multiple organ donor this year. In fact, the ACT was the proud leader of organ donation in 2010, with 27.9 donors per million population. Australia's overall rate of donors was 13.8 per million population.

We cannot change to become a world leader in this highly technical and specialised sector overnight. We are looking for steady and sustained improvement, and that is what we are seeing. This is similar to approaches in Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, when they embarked upon their programs of reform. It is interesting to note that each of those countries also asked families for approval for their loved ones to become organ donors. I note that Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania are currently looking at the opt-out system, but I hope they will put this to one side and continue on the path of reform that they confirmed in 2009. Some countries, such as Austria, do not have improved outcomes as a result of an opt out system. At this stage, we need cultural change, where we all know the wishes of our loved ones, rather than a legislative framework to commandeer their organs.

The important component of the reform agenda includes the media campaigns that have been successfully run by the Organ and Tissue Authority. The first major campaign, which began in May last year, focused on the three Ds: discover the facts about organ donation, decide what you want to do and sign on to the register and, most importantly, discuss your wishes with your family. The second campaign began in February this year during DonateLife Week. Its message was: any day is a good day to discuss organ and tissue donation. The third campaign builds on the work of the previous two campaigns, and the message is simple: know your family's wishes, discuss it today, OK.

I am pleased that each state and territory has reaffirmed its commitment to the reform agenda. At a meeting of Australia's health ministers in February 2011, a continuing commitment was made by jurisdictions to provide funding for increased activity in tissue typing, retrieval of organs and transplant surgery. This commitment is incredibly important and complements the injection of funds by the Commonwealth for state and territory hospitals to identify donors.

Finally, I pay for tribute to the foot soldiers, our community of volunteers, who work on this issue. They work tirelessly to support the reform agenda. They are the people who go out to community groups on cold evenings to promote the 'OK message'. It is a confronting message that they promote, and they undertake this activity with good grace and patience. On behalf of Canberrans and this parliament I thank them for their efforts. I urge all members and senators to hold a community information session in their electorates this year. We need to spread the message about it being OK to be an organ donor. (Time expired)

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

I rise today to support the motion put forward by the member for Canberra that the House recognise the record year of organ donation in Australia in 2010, when there were 309 multiple organ donors. There are few other areas of policy and public debate as emotive as organ donation. There are also many myths surrounding the practice and procedure of extracting and implanting donor organs.

I acknowledge the good work of organisations such as DonateLife, which have played a major role in breaking down the barriers some people have put around organ donation. The development of the awareness of organ donation is increasing people's understanding and support of a family member's decision to donate. I also acknowledge the powerful advertising campaigns of recent times to encourage discussion with loved ones surrounding their thoughts on organ donation. In my electorate of Hasluck I know of people who need an organ transplant which would enable them to lead a fulfilling life or just survive.

My office and I are proudly part of the workplace Partnership for Life program run by the Organ Donation and Transplant Foundation of WA. We supply organ donation merchandise to local community groups, display posters in the office and include the organ donation banner on our email signatures. It is our effort to help raise awareness of this important issue, which has been neglected in the past. It is pleasing to be able to acknowledge the record of 309 multiple organ donors in 2010, which resulted in 931 recipients receiving transplants improving their quality of life and, ultimately, that of their family. So far in 2011 there has been a significant increase in a number of transplants. I commend and thank those individuals and families who have made the hard but benevolent decision to donate organs and human tissue so that someone else may live. There is no greater gift than the gift of life, and the families who made the decision to allow doctors to harvest their loved ones' organs are truly life savers.

The rise in organ donation and the role of families within this is not coincidental. The federal government, and I compliment the federal government's initiative, injected an additional $151 million into national hospitals to establish a more coordinated approach to organ donation. Since this funding became available, more than 240 staff in 77 hospitals around the country and in DonateLife organisations have been appointed. This helps the states and territories to work in a more coordinated manner to improve the rates of organ donation throughout Australia.

In Western Australia just 8.5 people per million donated their organs in 2009. Change has occurred. At a point in time four people were expected to die needlessly in Perth waiting for a liver transplant, while more than 120 people were waiting for kidney, lung, heart and liver transplants. In 2010 this has risen to 9.6 people per million, and the national average also rose from 11.3 to 13.8 people per million during the same period.

The true scale of people waiting for a transplant each year is often not known as many patients are not placed on the list. It is not until they are listed as being in critical need of a transplant that the true number is known. In 2007, for example, there were over 1,880 people listed as waiting for a transplant. This has since dropped to an average of 1,700 people waiting for a transplant.

I am pleased to be able to stand here today and say that in 2011 from January to May there have already been 141 people who have donated their organs. This has resulted in 416 people being given single or multiple organ donations, and for many a second chance at life. This is a trend that I hope continues. I acknowledge that any discussion with loved ones about their wishes to donate organs or human tissue is a challenging one—but an equally important one. According to DonateLife, only 17 per cent of Australians have had a conversation with their loved ones about this very issue, despite 98 per cent agreeing that organ donation has the potential to save and improve people's lives. This is crucial, as many organ donations still do not take place despite someone's wishes to do so if a family member is not fully informed of an individual's choice when the time comes.

Debate has been going on in Western Australia for some time surrounding so-called 'opt-in, opt-out' legislation which appears to have proven successful in countries like Spain, which have a donation rate of over 30 people per million compared to the Australian average of 13.8 in 2010. More research needs to be conducted into policies surrounding organ donation, and I would support moves by both sides of government to examine this issue. I am proud to acknowledge the good work undertaken so far in this field of medicine, and I hope we are witnessing the beginning of a renaissance in organ donation in Australia. Thank you (Time expired).

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I start by thanking the member for Canberra for bringing this important matter to our attention. I also bring the House's attention to the establishment of the Parliamentary Friends of Organ and Tissue Donation initiated by my colleague the member for Canberra and its inaugural meeting is going to be on this coming Wednesday.

Last year 309 organ donors gave 931 Australians a chance at a new life. Despite that being the highest number of donations in a decade, regrettably it still leaves 1,700 people waiting on the transplant list for organ donation. These individuals are often on the list for anywhere between six months to four years, and regrettably a lot of people die whilst waiting.

Despite having one of the highest rates of success of transplant operations in the world, Australia has one of the lowest organ donation rates in the developed world. Given the fact that Australians generally acknowledge organ donation as a good thing, regrettably that does not translate into a significant increase in the organ donation rate. Considering our well-known Australian spirit in lending a hand in times of adversity, similarly this spirit should apply to most people's thinking, and I think it generally does, when it comes to organ donation. The government's organ and tissue donation national reform package, which was introduced with the agreement of the states and is funded to the tune of $151 million, is a truly crucial step towards increasing awareness of organ donation and, in particular, towards informing people of what the true facts about it are. The government has established a coordinated approach to organ donation, using 240-odd staff working through about 77 different hospitals and DonateLife agencies across Australia, thus enabling the jurisdictions to work cooperatively to support and sustain improvements in the organ donation rate.

We often put ourselves in the hands of our doctors and rightfully put our trust in their judgment. That is why, in the interests of increasing the organ donation rate, I have entered into an arrangement with Dr Phan Giang Sang, who is a Vietnamese doctor in Cabramatta. As you are aware, Madam Deputy Speaker, 20 percent of people in my electorate speak Vietnamese at home. There is a very low organ donation rate in my electorate, so Dr Sang has written a number of books about organ donation. He is particularly committed to encouraging awareness among the Vietnamese community and people of other migrant backgrounds about organ donation and to debunking the misconception that organ donation is somehow contrary to various cultural or religious beliefs. Dr Sang has consented to having my flyer printed which is now going out to every one of the GPs in Cabramatta and is translated into Vietnamese with a view to trying to increase the take-up rate among Vietnamese people in my area. I would encourage members to enter into agreements with local doctors in an attempt to deliver better organ donation outcomes for our community.

I know organ donation is a very difficult subject—when a loved one dies, you do not expect to be asked about it. But I have often spoken on this in this parliament, and I refer now to very good friend of mine, Debbie Roberts. Her daughter who was only 20 at the time, died some years back. Fortunately, her daughter had the fortitude to have a good talk with her mum about what her intentions were should she die. Debbie often talks to me about the assistance that her daughter has given to other people—in fact, she has changed their lives. Four people now have healthy lives because of the generous position of her daughter Rebecca. (Time expired)

Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the member for Canberra's motion. I think it is a wonderful thing, and I appreciate the passion that she brings to this debate. This year is the 26thanniversary of my uncle receiving a new kidney. My uncle lives in Broadford in northern Victoria, and 26 years ago he would have died if not for his new kidney. He is now about to turn 70. He was the first bloke ever to let me play a Beatles record, he was the first bloke to take me for a ride in a Porsche and he let me beat him at golf—he is one of the world's best blokes. But, if not for his new kidney, my uncle would not be here.

It is all very well and good for us to talk about the importance of organ donation here, but it has to become a rite of passage for the youth of today. Once they leave school, it should be the same thing for them as having a legal drink at a pub was for me. You have to have that conversation with your parents, you have to get your their okay and you have to do make sure that your parents understand that you are okay with it and that all your friends are in there with you. I would like to see the default position be that you are an organ donor—I think that is something worthwhile. If you die you should offer your organs for donation unless you have religious or spiritual grounds that make you not want to do so. I think it is a wonderful thing to do and that it should be driven by the youth. It is all well and good our standing here saying what a wonderful thing organ donation is, but, unless it is driven by the youth of today, I suggest that we are not going to get there. My wife has said that they can have my organs now! She has been very upfront about that. They can have absolutely everything they want. She knows my insurance level. They can have it all now! I do not mean to be flippant about this matter, but I think it is something that we have to take as a fact of life. We must appeal to everyone and let them know that it is a good thing to do.

Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.