Tackling Leukaemia Inc
Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (19:13): (1896) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Health, and in speaking to the Minister for Health I would like to create an awareness of and highlight a wonderful grassroots charity organisation called Tackling Leukaemia Incorporated. The action I seek from the minister is to meet with this Victoria-based charity, not-for-profit, grassroots charity who are doing amazing work. I would like her to meet with them and to work out a way how she can partner, whether it be in logistics or resource support, for them to continue to expand their life-saving work. Tackling Leukaemia Victoria only came into existence in 2021, but their patron is the Honourable David Hurley, the former Governor-General of Australia. The charity’s mission is to increase the number of registered stem cell donors across Australia, but in our case specifically Victoria, particularly among those First Nations, Māori and Pasifika communities. These groups are tragically over-represented in leukaemia diagnoses but under-represented on the national donor registry. Without a suitable donor match, the chances of survival are greatly reduced. The flip side is that with a donor, life expectancy and treatment success is elevated. Every half an hour someone in Australia is diagnosed with blood cancer and more than 5600 lose their lives.
Early intervention is key. Tackling Leukaemia has developed a very simple but effective grassroots recruitment strategy. They partner with sports clubs to recruit fit, young people – that rules me out –and invite them to swab their mouths to see if they can go on that donor registry. Last month they swabbed at events with the Old Geelong Football Club and the Old Carey Grammarians Football Club and added 100 new donors to the register, and I think that is fantastic. They partner with Stem Cell Donors Australia. It is all about getting connection, meeting those young people and asking them for a very simple operation. In the last year they have increased by 10 per cent, but they have a vision to really promote and put more and more people on that register so that people will have a great chance of survival. I ask the minister to meet with them, find out about the work they do and work out a way to support this wonderful charity.