Organ Donation
Organ and Tissue Donation
This section of the website provides an overview of the information on organ and tissue donation and links to further information.
World’s Best Practice National Reform Package
On 2 July 2008 the Australian Government proposed a total Commonwealth funding package of $151.1 million, including new funding of $136.4 million over four years, for measures to significantly improve Australians' access to life saving organ transplants. The proposed funding package will establish Australia as a world leader in best practice organ donation for transplantation through an integrated and comprehensive national reform package.The Commonwealth’s involvement in the organ and tissue donation and transplant sector is to support organisations to increase awareness of organ and tissue donation, improve the rate of organ and tissue donation and support the transplantation sector with data collection and research. To this end, the Commonwealth has provided funding to a number of organisations and programs to assist the organ and tissue donation sector.
There are a number of different issues surrounding organ and tissue donation and a number of common questions and concerns. Legislation and guidelines for organ and tissue donation have been developed around this issue to set out clear laws and provide consistency in practice.
Our functions include the following:
- Working in consultation with State and Territory governments and other stakeholders;
- Supporting collection of transplant data through funding of the Allocation and Outcome Registries;
- Supporting training of clinicians through the Australasian Donor Awareness Program;
- Ensuring the continued national supply of cord blood units through funding the National Cord Blood Collection Network;
- Minimising financial barriers for people requiring a bone marrow transplant through the Bone Marrow Transplant Program; and
- Ongoing development of the Australian Organ Donor Register.