Tuesday, 14 May 2024

Legal and Social Issues Committee

Register and Talk about It: Inquiry into Increasing the Number of Registered Organ and Tissue Donors

Katie HALL (Footscray) (11:15): I am pleased to make a contribution on this Legal and Social Issues Committee report and to talk about it and the register. I do not have the privilege of serving on that committee, but I would like to commend the work of the committee and, in particular, the chair the member for Lara, on their work on this important topic. Organ and tissue donation of course provide significant health and economic benefits to both individuals and the health system. Encouraging Victorians to register to become organ and tissue donors is key to increasing the likelihood that a donation will proceed.

Prior to my election to Parliament I worked for the Victorian organ donation service, DonateLife Victoria. I started working there at a time when we were really working to increase awareness but, most importantly, discussions with family members – to tell your family members about your decision and then to register. Few people pass away in circumstances that would make them eligible – viable – to be organ donors, so the pool of potential donors is very low. We need every single person who believes in and supports organ and tissue donation to have that important discussion with their families, because their families are ultimately the people who will be making that very challenging decision, often on the worst day of their lives. I would like to acknowledge the skill of the staff at DonateLife, in particular: the national medical director Dr Helen Opdam, who is a very accomplished intensivist from the Austin Hospital; Michelle Skinner, who is a wonderful bereavement counsellor at DonateLife; and Bernie Dwyer, who is a nurse who I understand is about to retire after a long career supporting families to make that decision when they are confronted with the loss of a loved one.

Victoria has a low percentage of its population registered on the Australian Organ Donor Register. The inquiry identified opportunities available to increase this. As preparation for the report, the committee considered a range of submissions from people with lived experience – of course transplant recipients and donor families. The committee’s inquiry documented 74 findings and made 41 ‍recommendations to the Victorian government, all of which have merit, but some stood out to me. Our organ donation rate in Victoria is consistently above the national average, something we should be proud of. Yet whilst 81 per cent of Victorians support donation, Victoria has the second-lowest rate of registration on the organ and tissue donation register, with only 23 per cent of Victorians being registered donors. With better awareness, of course, we can encourage young people and people from different cultural backgrounds, who may not have as much of an understanding of the life-saving benefits of organ and tissue donation, to have that important conversation and to sign up on the register. There was a particular focus on tailoring education and community awareness activities to build relationships with community leaders from diverse cultural communities and to have clinicians speak to them to navigate the topic, which is sometimes a very sensitive and challenging topic.

I would really like to congratulate the Khillan family. I attended with the Minister for Veterans a fundraiser on the weekend for Transplant Australia, where they raised over $125,000. So congratulations to Aayushi Khillan.