Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The opposition supports the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Bill 2008. We look forward to the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority making a significant contribution in helping to lift donation rates across Australia. We are confident that the new authority and the advisory council will build on the significant work that was done by the previous government in lifting organ donation rates across Australia.

In Australia we are very good at performing the surgical procedures transplanting organs or tissue. We are not so good when it comes to our rates of organ donation. Demand for organ and tissue donations across Australia significantly exceeds supply and, in the context of our ageing population and an increasing prevalence of chronic disease, demand for organ and tissue donations is expected to increase further. This is a very sensitive issue. It is sensitive for the families of those who become organ donors, families who are dealing with the personal distress of having lost a loved one, and for those waiting for the promise of a better life that comes from a successful organ transplant.

As the Prime Minister mentioned in the House when introducing this bill, at any one point in time there are about 1,800 Australians on a waiting list for an organ donation. About 120 to 130 of those are from my home state of Western Australia. That includes about 100 Western Australians waiting for a kidney transplant. About five years ago, John Gleeson, a very special bloke from Carlisle in Western Australia, was among the lucky ones. After seven to eight years of dialysis three times a week for six hours at a time, he received a kidney transplant. It changed his life. As he says, it was like winning the lottery. Towards the end of his seven to eight years of dialysis, he could hardly walk two steps because he was exhausted and in pain. The effects were immediate. His quality of life improved almost instantly and today, five years later, at 70 years of age, he walks, he goes swimming and he goes out and has fun. He enjoys life again. It has truly changed his life.

All those Australians who are waiting for an organ or tissue donation are waiting for something that could save or transform their life the way it has for John. Unmet demand means the suffering continues for the many who have to wait. There is a desperate need to continue to lift organ and tissue donation rates. We are very hopeful that this bill will help address this challenge so that we can ensure that those Australians who desperately need access to this help are able to get it.

John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to incorporate a speech by Senator Humphries.

Leave granted.

Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

I welcome any move to increase the rate of organ donation in Australia. This bill goes some way to help drive Australia’s donation rates up, but it is a missed opportunity for this body to consider important alternatives to the current donation regime in Australia.

There were just under 200 deceased donors in Australia last year and conversely there were 1,757 people on organ waiting lists. Australia’s organ donation rate, at around 9 per million people, compares quite unfavourably with many other countries. For example, Spain has the highest donation rate in the world, namely 34.3 donors per million people. Belgium has a rate of 28 donors per million people and Austria has 23.6 donors per million people. Australia’s rate of 9 per million people falls far behind these countries. The question is what do they do differently? The answer is they have an opt-out donations system.

An opt-out system, whereby consent to donate one’s organs is presumed unless the person opts out or their family objects to the donation, would improve donation rates and save lives. A person who did not wish to donate their organs would have to opt out, for example through a register, and families of a deceased person would still be able to object to the donation.

A report by Abadie and Gay in the Journal of Health Economics in 2006 shows that countries with an opt-out system have on average organ donation rates 25 to 30 per cent higher than of countries with opt-in systems.

At the 2020 Summit, a recommendation was made that Australia move to an ‘opt out’ system for organ donation. However, debate on this subject has been shut down and the Government does not seem interested in even putting the subject on the table.

We have seen many initiatives over the years to encourage people to sign up as organ donors while they are healthy. This bill alone will not lift Australia off the bottom of the league table of organ-donating countries. Creating an oversight body will help promote best practice and national co-operation but it is not the whole answer to the bridging the incredible shortfall between donors and those on waiting lists.

If we could improve our donation rate by twenty five percent by implementing an opt- out system as has been suggested by Abadie and Gay, that’s an extra fifty donors each year who will give the gift of life to Australians currently in limbo. But with our donation rates already so low, there’s no suggestion that we have room to improve beyond that.

With over 1,600 Australians in a life-or-death limbo wondering whether they will be among the lucky few to receive an organ, mere advertising and promotion is not good enough. Best practices and a national body to set standards and co-operation goes some way but it does not go all the way.

While I support this legislation, I also point out that we have missed an important opportunity to consider the benefits of an opt-out scheme of presumed consent for organ donations.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to incorporate remarks by Senator Carol Brown and Senator Glenn Sterle.

Leave granted.

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

It gives me great pleasure to contribute briefly to the second reading debate for this bill, the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Bill 2008.

It is fantastic to see that the bill has cross party support.

The debate over how to address the issue of organ donation in this country has been in fact a long running one, and one which I have been actively involved in since the commencement of my time in this place.

Indeed, for any of you who have had the absolute pleasure of meeting anyone of the 30,000 healthy Australians who are transplant recipients you would understand why.

The simple truth that is immediately apparent when meeting such people that—Organ transplants save lives.

In Australia we currently have around 1,800 people who are in the unfortunate position of still waiting for a suitable organ to be donated.

Luckily, we Australians live in a country that possesses a proper functioning and universal health and hospital system.

A country that has long been a world leader when it comes to clinical outcomes.

Indeed our country boasts one of the highest success rates for organ transplants in the world.

Thanks to the skilful and hard working medical teams all around the country, 90% of organ transplant patients live the see the first anniversary of their life saving surgery.

This is even higher for kidney transplant recipients, the most common form of organ transplant, with staggering 96.5% of kidney transplant recipients healthy and well a year after their surgery.

Indeed when it comes to outcomes, in terms of organ transplants in Australia, we have a lot to be proud of.

In a perfect world, each patient requiring an organ transplant would be granted a new lease on life and enjoy this 90 plus per cent success rate.

However, there is another side to successful organ transplants—and that is the unavoidable need for organ donation.

Indeed organ donation and transplantation go hand in hand, and the harsh reality is that for successful transplants to occur there must first and foremost be an organ donor.

And sadly, it is in this crucial area of organ donation that Australia, up until this point has fallen drastically short.

It is estimated that up to 32 lives can be saved from just one organ donor.

However while 90% of Australians support organ donation; sadly we have one of the lowest rates of organ donation in the world.

Remember that 1,800 Australians I mentioned earlier that are waiting desperately in hospitals and if they are lucky enough, their homes all around the country for an organ transplant—100 of these people will die before they are given the chance to receive one.

Indeed last year there were only 198 deceased organ donors in Australia, resulting in 657 transplants – meeting just one third of the demand for transplants.

The practical reality of this is that many hundreds of Australians are left waiting another year for a transplant and, as you can imagine, for a terminally sick patient waiting for a transplant—this is simply time that they do not have.

Further despite the almost perfect success rates for transplants and the high quality of clinical care available in hospitals around the country, we lag embarrassingly behind many other developed nations when it comes to donations.

The International Registry of Organ Donation reports that Australia’s donor rate in 2006 was only 9.8 donors per million people, which is significantly lower than other developed countries, such as Spain, whose donor rate in contrast was 33.8 donors per million—which is more than three times higher than Australia’s, and the United States, whose donor rate was 26.9 donors per million, more than 2 and a 1/2 times higher than that in Australia.

In fact Australia’s constantly low donor rate has lead to a situation at present where despite the fact that 90% of Australians support organ donation and we live in a country that has one of the highest success rates for organ transplants in the world—hundreds of Australians in need of a transplant are still dying before they receive one.

In July this year, with the endorsement of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) the Rudd Government announced a major new national reform package to establish Australia as a world leader in organ donation for transplantation, with funding totalling $151.1 million.

The national plan consists of five key steps:

(1)

$46 million to introduce a coordinated, consistent approach and systems under the leadership of a new, independent national authority—the Australian Organ Donation and Transplantation Authority—that is established under the bill that is before us today.

(2)

$67 million to employ trained medical specialists and other staff dedicated to organ donation who will work closely with emergency department and intensive care unit teams in selected public and private hospitals across Australia.

(3)

$17 million in new funding for hospitals to meet additional staffing, bed and infrastructure costs associated with organ donation.

(4)

$13.4 million towards raising community awareness and building public confidence in Australia’s donation for a transplantation system.

(5)

$1.9 million for counsellors to support donor families.

This is a comprehensive plan, based on international best practice that aims in the long term to establish Australia as a world leader in organ donation for transplantation.

The practical operation of the reforms will mean that

potential donors are properly identified at hospitals across the country;

every family of a potential donor will be asked about organ donation;

a dedicated specialist will work with the potential donor and their family to provide support through what is often a very, very difficult process;

hospital staff will be able to focus on donor care knowing that the hospital has a separate budget to cover organ and tissue donation;

families receive the support they need at the time of organ donation and afterwards; and

there is an equitable and safe process for managing transplant waiting lists and allocating organs once they become available.

The bill before us today seeks to give legislative effect to the first of these measures, by establishing the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority.

With $24.4 million worth of funding over 4 years, the Authority will lead a co-ordinated and consistent national approach to organ and tissue transplantation initiatives in Australia.

The Authority will be an independent agency managed by a CEO, who will be directly accountable to the Minister for Health and Ageing and be responsible for implementing the Governments $151.1 million reform package.

The Authority will:

coordinate clinicians and other hospital staff dedicated to organ and tissue donation in hospitals across the country;

train professional staff to do that;

oversee a new national network of state and territory organ and tissue donation agencies;

introduce and manage a national data and reporting system;

lead ongoing community awareness programs about organ and tissue donation and transplantation; and

work with clinical and professional organizations in developing clinical practice protocols and standards

Therefore the Authority will work with states, territories, to build a world leading organ donation and transplantation system in Australia.

It will also work with clinicians, hospitals and the community sector to educate people about donation, offer families support through this often difficult decision, and make sure that all suitable patients are identified as potential donors.

Expert advice will also be provided to the CEO of the Authority through a new Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Advisory Council that will comprise of a Chair and up to 15 members from a variety of different backgrounds including organ and tissue donation and transplantation, health consumer affairs, management and public administration.

The Authority is due to commence operation on 1 January 2009.

It’s establishment represents a most welcome and definite step forward toward improving the rates of organ donation and transplantation in Australia.

For far too long, organ donation rates in this country have lagged behind other developed nations despite the fact that we have one of the best transplant success rates in the world.

And for far too long too many Australians have endured the painful wait for that telephone call to inform them that a donor has been found—and in too many cases that call was simply never received.

With a willing community that figures proved actively supported the concept of Organ Donation, national leadership to develop a comprehensive and co-ordinated approach to lift donor rates was needed.

The establishment of the National Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority represents acts on this need.

Indeed as the Prime Minster pointed out during his second reading contribution, the measures contained in this bill provide the national leadership Australia needs to lift organ donation rates and to make it possible for our expert, and highly skilled transplant doctors and healthcare professionals to save the lives of more Australians and return them back to good health.

Further collectively the measures contained in the bill reflect international best practice and are aimed squarely at establishing Australia as a world leader when it comes to organ donation for transplantation.

As a long running advocate of the importance of organ donation I very much welcome the introduction of this bill.

I look forward to the Authorities prompt commencement on January 1 next year, and very much look forward to witnessing the gradual but noticeable increase in the rates of donation over the next couple of years as a product of its work.

The decision to become an organ donor is not always an easy one, but the simple reality is that in Australia, with our high success rate for transplants—organ donation saves lives.

While the Authority will facilitate greater co-ordination to hopefully generate higher rates of donation in the long term, the real power inevitably still rests with individual Australians making the selfless commitment to donate.

I would encourage all Australians to consider registering their consent to be an organ donor with the Organ Donation Registry. Information relating to this can be obtained from your local Medicare Australia office.

I would also encourage all Australians to consider discussing this important issue with their families and friends, which will hopefully generate greater advocacy for donation.

In the interim, it is with much pleasure that I declare my support for this bill and commend it to the Senate.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

I rise to speak on the Australian Organ & Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Bill 2008.

The bill establishes the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority to provide national leadership to the organ and tissue sector and also to drive, implement and monitor national reform initiatives and programs aimed at increasing Australians’ access to life-saving and transforming transplants.

Around 100 people die each year in Australia while waiting for an organ transplant and over the past ten years the organ donor rate has remained static – approximately 10 donors per million population.

Western Australia had 19 organ donors in 2007, which helped make up the total of 198 organ donations across the nation.

Whilst these 198 donations each year are important and commendable, Australia has one of the lowest organ donor rates amongst developed countries and only half of families consent to the donation of their deceased family member’s organs.

Organ and transplant donation is a profoundly generous act on the part of an individual or family, which can transform the lives of people on the transplant waiting list.

It is the Government’s intent that this bill will contribute to a much higher rate of organ and tissue donation in Australia.

More than 30,000 Australians have received transplants in the last 60 years and with a co-ordinated central body we can substantially increase this number into the future.

The measures enabled by the bill have a total cost of $151.1 million over four years, including new funding of $136.4 million over four years, to introduce a new nationally-consistent, coordinated system of organ and tissue donation for transplantation.

$24.4 million over the course of four years has been allocated to establish and operate the Authority to drive, coordinate and fund national initiatives to improve the donation rate.

The Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority, will be managed by a Chief Executive Officer with direct accountability to the Federal Minister for Health and Ageing.

This CEO will be advised by the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Advisory Council that will comprise of a Chair plus up to 15 members who will have relevant expertise in managing organ and tissue donation and related issues.

The Authority will spearhead the Government’s initiative to achieve a significant and lasting increase in the number of transplants for Australians.

I have been a registered organ donor for a number of years and I sincerely hope that many of my colleagues in this place, and the other place are as well.

If not, I strongly encourage you to contact the Australian Organ Donor Register on 1800 777 203 or through the Medicare Australia website to become one of the 1.1 million Australians who have already registered their legally valid consent or objection to organ and tissue donation.

By registering their details and consent, Australians can make a difference.

This is something that should be on the radar of every Australian.

No one is forced into it, but everyone should be aware of it.

Unfortunately, public awareness of the importance of organ and tissue donation is not the best.

This bill will establish an authority whose role it will be to educate and promote organ and tissue donation throughout Australia.

For people with life-threatening or serious illnesses, organ or tissue transplantation may mean a second chance at life, or an improved quality of life.

One organ or tissue donor may save or enhance the lives of up to 30 people.

In my home state, there are almost 650,000 Western Australians registered for organ and tissue donation, but there is always more to be done.

This figure represents 41% of the WA population over the age of 16 years having registered to donate their organs, but again there is more to be done.

The Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority will improve on these figures and ensure the message about organ and tissue donation reaches a much wider audience.

There is evidence available from WA to prove that a centralised administration and increased marketing can improve awareness of and registrations for organ and tissue donation.

A recent marketing campaign by DonateWest, a Health Department initiative of the previous Labor state government, entitled “Don’t Waste Your Wish”, aimed at increasing registrations, was launched in February 2008 and ran for 3 weeks, including during the Australian Organ Donor Awareness Week.

The campaign comprised a TV commercial in conjunction with advertising in the state newspaper throughout the 3 week period.

Registrations jumped from an average 880 per month to 1,641 in February, Inquiry calls increased from an average of 294 per month to 691 calls in February alone.

Website hits to www.dontwasteyourwish.org and the DonateWest website increased from an average 471 visitors a month to 1,839 visitors.

Australia’s organ donation rate lags behind those of many other developed nations.

Leading nations have well resourced national systems to coordinate organ donation.

To do this well will take money, and the Rudd Labor Government is determined to invest this money and improve our organ and tissue donation rates.

Subject to passage of the legislation, the Authority is proposed to commence on 1 January 2009.

The budget for the Authority and other reform initiatives has been allocated to align with this commencement date.

As the Authority will be responsible for implementing the other measures of the reform package, it is essential that the Authority is established by this date.

The organ donation rate could be dramatically improved if more people discussed their wishes with their family and registered their decision on the Australian Organ Donor Registry.

A 2006 Australians Donate survey showed that although 94 percent of Australians support organ and tissue donation for transplantation, one-in-four Australians have not made their wishes known about organ and tissue donation to anyone.

While Australians have overwhelming indicated that they are in favour of organ and tissue transplantation, for many years this has not been translated into an increased donor rate.

Clearly the current system of organ donor advocacy and registration is not as effective as it needs to be.

At the current time, only approx one quarter of Australians over the age of 16, have registered their intent to be an organ donor.

For Australia’s rate of organ donations to increase to a level that occurs in a number of other developed countries Australia should be aiming for a majority of people being registered as organ donors.

With the current system, only 20% of those who have registered on the organ donor registry have provided a legally valid consent for organ donation.

It’s important that people who are registered as organ donors make that fact known to their close family.

Current experience is that too often families are not aware that the person concerned has not registered as an organ donor.

Too often families are not are that the person concerned has registered as an organ donor.

In approximately of instances families decline to agree to organ donation despite the wishes of the person concerned.

Since January 2005, the Australian Organ Donor Registry has been a register of legal consent and is the only official national register for organ and tissue donation.

There are currently approximately 2,000 people on transplant waiting lists around Australia and as I have mentioned around one hundreds Australians die each year while waiting for an organ transplant.

Waiting periods on the wait list for transplants for some people can last for more than 15 years and drastically reduces those peoples’ quality of life.

Statistics show that you are more likely to need a transplant than to ever become an organ donor, and whilst organ donation is the choice of individuals, you can’t take your organs with you.

Surely, if we help improve one extra life through sight improvement or kidney transplant, it is worth it.

I commend the bill to the Senate and urge fellow senators to support it.

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am extremely pleased to be able to conclude the debate on the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Bill 2008. I thank senators who have contributed today. Support for the concept of organ and tissue donation in Australia runs at more than 90 per cent. From the contributions of senators and members, it seems that support in the parliament is running at 100 per cent. I thank senators and members for that support. Much of that support is generated by the stories of lives transformed as a result of successful transplants—like the delightful Cordelia Whatman, whom the Prime Minister spoke of when he introduced this bill in the other place; or John Coggan, a wheat farmer and heart transplant recipient from Meandarra, who recently raised $75,000 for organ transplant research; or Sam Chisholm, the former CEO of the Nine Network, a double lung transplant recipient and powerful advocate for organ and tissue donation.

But today I want to focus on the other side of the equation: the donor family. The inspiration we gain from hearing about organ and tissue recipients is replicated in the story shared by their families. I would like to relate the story of Tom Overstone. Tom’s mum, Helen, has given her permission, through Transplant Australia, for me to speak about Tom and their family today. Tom Overstone was in the gap year between high school and further studies when he was in a tragic accident in mid-2007. He was 17. He never regained consciousness, and he was pronounced brain dead after five days on life support. Tom’s organs were donated and saved the lives of four people. Reflecting after their experience last year, Tom’s mum, Helen, said:

All four of us were registered as organ donors. We did it when Tom was 13 and Megan was 15. We had discussions about organ donation around the dinner table. When Tom was on life support, one of his best mate’s said he and Tom had had a discussion about brain death and what would happen if they were each in that situation. Tom told him that he would never want to be in a “vege state”. This was really good confirmation for us of everything we already knew. I think I’ll never get over losing my son but I know Tom has done something really good for somebody else. I have received two lots of letters from recipients—

those letters are de-identified letters organised through the transplant agency DonateWest—

The letters expressed just how grateful the people were. It brought me tears of joy.

Tom’s sister, Megan, said of her brother:

We saw Tom after his organs had been removed, and he looked beautiful. I was worried that he wouldn’t look like my brother, but he looked gorgeous. It was just like he had had an operation: it was all neat and beautiful.

Through their brave and generous decision, the Overstone family radically change the lives of many others—those of the recipients of Tom’s organs, and their friends and families. Their decision to discuss organ donation around the dinner table some years earlier is an example to us all. Sadly, though, we know that, despite the fact that over six million Australians have registered to donate, last year there were just 198 deceased organ donors in Australia. While this resulted in 657 transplants, it met just one-third of the demand.

There is a very real human cost in these statistics. For too long, Australians have been left waiting for transplants that could mean the difference between life and death or between a normal healthy life and a life of debilitating disease. We urgently need to turn this situation around and lift organ donation rates not just in the short term but also over the long term. We need enduring systemic changes so that there can be a sustained increase in donation rates to meet the likely increased demand for organ and tissue transplants in the future.

The government’s reform package, of which this bill is one part, is our best possible chance of doing this. It is a significant $151.1 million package that will ensure a coordinated national approach to organ and tissue donation. The package of reforms addresses the two main issues which are at the core of our current difficulties in lifting donation rates: lack of education and support for families making the difficult decision to donate; and lack of national leadership and coordination.

On the first of these two points, the reform package includes initiatives to encourage and support Australians to talk about organ and tissue donation and to not only become registered donors on the Australian Organ Donor Register but, even more importantly, make sure that their families understand and respect their wishes, just as the Overstone family did. The most common reason cited by families when they decline to donate a deceased relative’s organs or tissues is that they simply never discussed with their relative whether they wanted to donate. There is no doubt that this is a very difficult topic. It is one that most of us find challenging to discuss, particularly when we are confronted with the possibility of losing a loved one.

We also know that there are many myths surrounding organ donation, and these myths can impact on our own decision to donate or our decision to agree to allow a relative’s organs to be donated. We also need to have those working in our hospitals trained to identify potential donors and, in that situation, to always ask a family whether they would agree to donation.

The new Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority will lead this change. The government’s reform package also includes $1.9 million for a national donor families support program managed by the new authority. The program will provide a nationally consistent set of services and information resources for trained staff to offer to families. These services and information resources will be available throughout Australia.

While a sustained nationally consistent effort is important, we must not forget that each family will have differing needs and will be at different stages of the donation process. The program will therefore be firmly underpinned by the principle that each family must be provided with respectful support which is responsive to the needs of that family. The support will be available at the time when the donation is being considered, at the time when the donation proceeds and afterwards. All families whose next of kin are identified as possible donors will be offered bereavement counselling and support, and ongoing contact and support, whether or not the donation proceeds.

In addition to increased education and family support, the second very significant characteristic of this reform package is that, for the very first time in Australia, a truly national approach will be adopted. As this government has said from day one, we cannot continue the blame game between the Commonwealth, the states and the territories, especially when thousands of Australians are unnecessarily suffering on transplant waiting lists around Australia. National leadership must be taken in order to address the current barriers to organ and tissue donation and transplantation, many of which stem from our current poorly coordinated system.

This bill and the broader package of reforms of which it is part deliver on our promise to cut through historical delineations and to provide national leadership by establishing a new national authority to drive the implementation of this reform package. The authority will oversee the implementation of nationally consistent processes and systems, beginning in the local hospitals, with greater support for families, enhanced professional education, and sufficient resources to maximise and measure the conversion of potential donors to actual transplants. This new national approach gives us the best possible chance of increasing donations and the number of life-changing and life-saving transplants.

We should not, however, underestimate the magnitude of the task ahead of us. Successful outcomes will require a concerted and sustained effort from all levels of government, from health professionals and from community organisations. On this note, I am very pleased and encouraged by the strong support of all governments in Australia and the sector. They recognise the significance of these reforms and have committed to work closely together to achieve possible changes.

But, ultimately, the success of these reforms will depend on each and every one of us thinking about organ donation and, like the Overstones, discussing it with our families, making our own very personal decision and doing all that we can to ensure that our families know our wishes. I would therefore like to add my voice to the appeal made by the Prime Minister at the introduction of the bill in the other place and appeal to all Australians: please discuss organ and tissue donation with your family, because it is your family who will make the critical choices if ever the day arrives when your organs may save the lives of others. If you have not registered on the Australian Organ Donor Register, I encourage you to do so and then, most importantly, talk about that decision with your family.

In closing, I would like to thank members of both houses for their contributions to the debate and their support for the bill. I would also like to acknowledge all those who have been instrumental in the development of the reform package—from those who raised issues and ideas at the 2020 Summit and those who shared their personal stories with me and my colleagues through to those in government and those in community and professional organisations. I acknowledge Anne Cahill-Lambert, who is in the chamber with us today. I want to also thank the National Clinical Taskforce on Organ and Tissue Donation and the cognate committee, who have all worked so hard to ensure that the reform package is practical, forward looking and firmly based on world’s best practice.

Finally, I look forward to the establishment of the new authority on 1 January next year and the first reports of the authority regarding its very important work—work which we are confident will see many, many more Australians experiencing the enormous benefits of organ and tissue donation.

I commend the bill to the chamber.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would just like to have recorded the Greens’ strong support for the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Bill 2008.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.