Supporting the Count Me In Campaign

Transplant Australia is proud to be supporting News Corp Australia’s new national campaign, “Count Me In”, calling on state and territory governments to reinstate the organ donation tick box on drivers’ licences.

Donor registration rates have stalled since the option was removed, with only 35% of adult Australians currently registered. In South Australia – the only state where the option remains more than 74% of adults are registered.

Reconnecting driver’s licence with the Australian Organ Donor Register could help deliver 80 more donors and around 200 additional transplants every year.

Writing to your member of Parliament

Every member of Transplant Australia can make a difference by writing to their state or federal member of parliament asking them to prioritise returning donor registration to the drivers licence system.

Here are some key points to include in an email or letter to your MP:

Heading or Subject: Increasing organ donor registration through drivers licences

  • I write to ask for your urgent help to organ donation registration in Australia to help the 2,000 people currently waiting for a life-saving transplant.
  • My name is ….. and I am a …… part of significant transplant and donor community numbering more than 25,000 transplant recipients alive today and thousands of donor families and living donors who have all said yes to donation.
  • We need state and territory governments to correct a previous failure in health policy and add the opportunity for adults to register as organ and tissue donors while obtaining or renewing their drivers licences.
  • Most states and territories are failing to increase donor registration – nationally the rate has stagnated at just 35 per cent of the adult population.
  • By contrast, South Australia, which is the only state to maintain this option, has continued to grow its population’s support for donation with 74 per cent of adults registered. And their consent rate has always been far superior to other states and territories.

Why does it matter? 

  • The statistics are clear. More than eight in 10 families agree to donation when their loved one was a registered donor. Conversely, family consent rates halve to just four out of 10 families when the loved one was not registered and the family had not spoken about donation.
  • And with almost 2,000 people waiting for a transplant we urgently need to improve the overall family consent rate of just 53 per cent. Put simply, too many life-saving and viable organs are being wasted because families are faced with enough emotional turmoil about losing their loved one and are uncertain what they would have wanted.
  • Donor registration through the drivers licence system is an easy opt-in to donation when young Australians are experiencing one of their first big life decisions – obtaining a drivers licence. Statistics show this decision stays with them for life and they become proud ‘card-carrying’ members of the greatest gift of all.

How can you help? 

  • Please let your state’s ministers for health and transport the urgency of this matter.
  • Raise the matter in Parliament
  • Write about this in your electorate newsletter.
  • It is a simple chance but one which could pave the way for thousands of more Australians to receive life-saving transplants – giving them a chance to life and thrive again.