Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care press conference – 28 July 2024

GED KEARNEY, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Now these wonderful humans, these little humans and their parents are why we are here today and why Donate Life Week is so incredibly important.

I'd just like to start by thanking Lucinda for all the amazing work that she does at the OTA. You're absolutely incredible, and the work is so important. And thanks to everybody that's here. Lucinda did acknowledge everybody, and I’d particularly like to thank Bernadette McDonald for having us today and all her staff who do great work. Professor Helen Opdam, thank you for everything you do as well.
 
We are here today to launch Donate Life Week, and you just heard the most inspiring, touching, and heartfelt story from that.
 
You can see why it is incredibly important that we get as many Australians as possible to register as organ donors. That wait for families or for even adults waiting for an organ is excruciating. And you can just see that moment when you hear there is an organ, there for your child or there for you, the relief and the wonder and the joy that that brings. And I want every Australian to know that they could do that. If they register 100 Australians who are on a waiting list for an organ. Hundreds of Australians who are on a waiting list for an organ  can get another go at life. They can have a full life.  They could be running around, hitting their siblings, as we heard. They can enjoy the simple pleasures of eating.
 
One donor can save the lives of 7 people. And we know that 4 out of 5 Australians support organ donation, they think it's a wonderful thing, but only 1 in 3 Australians actually end up registering. We need more Australians to register. It's incredibly easy. You just need to go to the website, donatelife.gov.au. It's just 3 little taps on your Express Plus Medicare app to do it.  
 
It only takes a minute to donate a lifetime to somebody who's desperate for an organ because of their illnesses. It really is an important thing to do and I can't express also that once you do register, you need to actually have a conversation with your family. Because at the end of the day, if a tragedy does befall you or befalls your family and they're in a situation to agree for your organs to be donated, they need to know. And we know that if you've had that conversation with your family members, um, the wonderful nurses, like our gorgeous nurse here today, will have a conversation with you about organ donation. And exponentially more likely it is exponentially more likely that your loved ones will say yes to your organs being donated if they know that it was your wish.
 
So please have that conversation with your family. Please register today. And I'm incredibly happy on behalf of all these wonderful people here today and the hospitals that do this wonderful work to launch Donate Life Week. It's wonderful to be here.
 
I myself have worked on an organ transplant ward, a liver transplant at the ward at the Austin Hospital. I worked with Bernadette McDonald back at the Austin many, many years ago. I know the joy. I know what it's like. I've been on the ward when that call has come through to say we have a liver, And it's just such a pleasure to be that person to run into the patient and say, “Guess what? We're all go”. And you heard today the joy that that brings that Matt said. So please consider becoming a donor - register, have the conversation. We will now officially launch Donate Life Week here at the Royal Children's Hospital.
 
LUCINDA BARRY AM, CEO ORGAN AND TISSUE AUTHORITY: Thank you Minister. From here, what we'll do is we'll take questions. I'm going to ask Professor Helen Opdam to come up, as well to answer any clinical questions. And then once we've done that, um, we have some of the plushies here for the kids, so there'll be the opportunity to take some footage and video of that.  

JOURNALIST: Can you provide some details around some of the rates of organ donation in some of these donations that are occurring right now. Can you take us into you guys might be able to take us into how far we've come?  Are we improving?
 
BARRY: Australia launched the national program in 2009. The Australian Government set that up in association with states and territories. We saw a 122% increase in organ donation in the first decade,  which was absolutely amazing. So that has meant that we've basically doubled the number of people who can receive a transplant. It has been challenging over the COVID-19 pandemic,  no doubt at all, but we are back on track. This year we reached our highest number organ donors in Australia.
 
So, putting in place a national coordinated system with states and territories and clinical sector like this hospital, has absolutely increased Australia's donation rate.
 
JOURNALIST: What's the state of the transplant, the donor list like? Have we heard from families that they have to wait quite a while? What's the average sort of waiting time that families are facing?
 
BARRY: Currently, there's about 1800 people on the wait list in Australia. There's also another 14,000 people who are on dialysis whose kidneys have failed and would potentially benefit from an organ transplant. The wait list for an organ has decreased. Of course, if you're increasing the donation rate in your country, then the wait list will go down. So on average at the moment for a kidney, which is the most,  in demand organ it's about two and a half years.   
 
JOURNALIST: That's a nervous wait for people, isn't it?
 
BARRY: Absolutely. But I will point out if you're on an urgent wait list for a heart or a liver or lungs, which is where it is really life-saving to get a transplant that that wait can be a lot quicker.
 
JOURNALIST: How easy is it is to register as a donor. Many people, as you said, do support organ donation, but are they registered? Where's that gap? Where's the, I guess, that that cavity there?
 
KEARNEY: Yes. That is the gap. As I said, 4 out of 5 Australians absolutely support organ donation. But unfortunately, only 1 in 3 actually register. So it's highlighting through Donate Life Week, through events like this, through the great work that the OTA does, that we are trying to close that gap and encourage Australians to register.
 
As Lucinda said,  COVID set us back quite a bit. But people have beliefs that you know, I'm too old or I don't lead the healthiest lifestyle or they kind of exclude themselves from thinking, well, maybe I  won't be good enough to be an organ donor. That is just not the case. We want everybody to register and those decisions will be made by wonderful people like Doctor Helen about whether or not your organs are appropriate for donation. So don't think that you can't.
 
We want everybody to register. There's no age limit really. Just go on there and do it.
 
JOURNALIST: Are there misconceptions around driver's licenses? Uh, you know, you can you know, when you're applying, you know, to, you know, get your driver's license, there are some questions around this, I believe. But are there misconceptions around there that if you answer that question on your driver's license, you're automatically in the car?
 
KEARNEY: Yeah. Currently, there's only one state that you can register on your driver's license. We are looking at that more broadly across the country. But really, the crucial thing, is that the thing really increases organ donation is that conversation. So your loved ones need to know that your intention is for your organs to be donated. And they are much more likely to give consent at that really difficult, vulnerable time, when, you know in hospital and your family are asked by the nurse, would you be prepared to donate your loved one's organs? That's the crucial thing is to have that conversation.