The Albanese Government has today called for innovative grant applications to help raise awareness about organ and tissue donation.
Up to $600,000 in grants is available for new DonateLife community partners in 2026.
Whilst four in five Australians support organ and tissue donation, only 36 per cent are registered on the Australian Organ Donor Register (AODR). We need your help to lift this to 50 per cent.
Of those Australians not registered who support donation, research shows around 14 per cent (or 2.8 million people) are unaware of how and why they need to register as organ and tissue donors. We need help from the community to spread the message about organ and tissue donation and to ask people to take a minute to register at donatelife.gov.au and talk to their families about donation.
Applications are now open for awareness events, activities and projects across two grant opportunities:
- Run a local community event or activity supporting DonateLife Week 2026.
- Develop and implement national marketing or public relations strategies, encouraging Australians to register as organ and tissue donors.
To find out more, please visit donatelife.gov.au/grants
Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister White:
“We want more Australians to talk about organ and tissue donation, to tell their family that they want to be a donor, and importantly, to register.
“Becoming a DonateLife community partner is a wonderful way for community organisations and businesses from across Australia to share the importance of registering as an organ and tissue donor with their communities and through their channels.
“We know eight out of ten families say yes to donation when they are asked in the hospital if their family member was a registered donor. But that number is halved if their family member was not registered and had not told them they wanted to be a donor.
“It’s so easy to register. It only takes one minute at donatelife.gov.au or through the myGov app.”