MEMBER for Mallee Anne Webster has made a heartfelt plea for constituents to consider signing up as organ donors.
It coincides with DonateLife Week from Sunday, July 28, until Sunday, August 4.
Dr Webster marked her first speech in Federal Parliament in 2019 promoting organ donation after her granddaughter, Emmeline, received a liver transplant at the age of 14 months.
“The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne was her home for months, and the care she received was exceptional,” Dr Webster said.
“I am proud of her and we are so grateful to her donor and their family for their gift of life.”
Dr Webster’s renewed call for improved organ donation comes as recent data highlights a lower than average donor registration in parts of the Mallee electorate.
The Mildura local government area has the lowest reported organ donor registration rate of all regional Victorian shires (22 per cent). The national average is 36 per cent.
In the Swan Hill LGA, 131 people signed up as donors in 2023, a slight drop from the 136 in 2022, according to the Australian Organ Donor Register.
There was a total 4266 donors in the municipality – representing 26 per cent of people registered in the LGA.
In Victoria last year, 40,454 people registered as organ and tissue donors on the AODR, 142 people died and became organ donors (down 1 per cent) and 361 people received organ transplants (down 2 per cent).
DonateLife Victoria state medical director Dr Rohit D’Costa said Victoria urgently needed more organ and tissue donors.
“There are around 1800 Australians on the organ waitlist and 14,000 more on dialysis for kidney failure who need Australia’s help,” she said.
“Sadly, more than 50 Australians died last year while on the organ transplant waitlist.
“We know that four in five Australians say they support donation, but only 36 per cent are registered (23 per cent in Victoria).
“If an extra three million Australians register, around 90-100 more people would receive a life-saving organ transplant every year.
The theme of DonateLife Week 2024 was “be the reason someone else gets a second chance at life”.
Dr D’Costa said the best way to do this was to register as a donor at donatelife.gov.au or with three taps in your Express Plus Medicare app.
Then, tell your family you’ve registered.
“Our dedicated organ donation teams across Victoria work tirelessly to maximise every opportunity to save a life through transplant,” Dr D’Costa said.
“But the reality is, there simply aren’t enough donors in Victoria to match the waitlist.”
Dr Webster said national leadership was needed to encourage all states and territories to adopt life-saving reform.
“South Australia’s organ donor registration rate is 72 per cent, as it is the only state where donor registration can be recorded when registering or renewing your driver’s licence,” she said.
Dr Webster is co-chair with Labor MP Dr Mike Freelander of the Parliamentary Friends of Organ Donation.
Register to become an organ and tissue donor at www.donatelife.gov.au/
