Transplant Australia welcomes the Victorian Government’s commitment to increasing the number of registered organ and tissue donors in Victoria.
The Victorian Government today released its response to the Legislative Assembly Legal and Social Issues Committee Report on Organ Donation issued last year.
The inquiry was prompted principally because only 23 per cent of eligible Victorians are registered as organ donors – 13 per cent lower than the national average and less than a third of the registration rate of 72 per cent in South Australia.
Transplant Australia CEO Chris Thomas congratulated the commitment of Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas in adopting the recommendations and working to improve registration rates.
“Victoria now has the chance to be a role model and re-introduce formally the opportunity to register when applying for or renewing a driver’s licence,” Mr Thomas said.
“The evidence is clear – only reinserting the donor registration option in the driver’s licence process will achieve significant and lasting increases in registrations. Improved consent rates in donation – leading to more Australians receiving a life-saving transplant – are directly influenced by the percentage of Australians registered.
“To be clear, the consent rate from families of registered donors (82 per cent) is more than double that of those who have not registered or discussed donation with their families (38 per cent).
“We note that the Victorian Government has identified challenges with linking state driver’s licences with the Australian Organ Donor Register which is administered by the Commonwealth. We urge the Government to resolve these barriers and truly deliver a registration system that is front and centre for all Victorians and improves the state’s registration rate to ensure more lives are saved through the gift of life.”
Transplant Australia calls on all state and territory governments to adopt the South Australian approach of directly linking registration on the driver’s licence.
“The reality is Australia had this system for many years. We gave it away everywhere but South Australia and it was a mistake. We need State Governments to look for technological solutions to overcome this barrier and work to ensuring that at least 50 per cent of our population are registered. We are a generous nation. People support donation. We just need to give them the solutions to confirm their support now and into the future.
Transplant Australia will review the Government’s response to the report and continue working positively with the Health Minister, the Victorian Health Department, DonateLife Victoria, the Parliamentary Friends of Transplant Australia and our diverse communities to improve registrations achieve lasting change for the hundreds of Victorians currently waiting for a life-saving transplant.
Victorian Government response to the Parliamentary Inquiry into increasing the number of registered organ and tissue donors can be read here.
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