Wednesday, 20 March 2024

Statements on parliamentary committee reports

Legal and Social Issues Committee

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

Ella GEORGE (Lara) (10:13): It is with great pleasure that I rise today to speak on a committee report, in particular the Legislative Assembly’s Legal and Social Issues Committee’s first report to the 60th Parliament, Register and Talk about It. Last year the Legislative Assembly referred to the committee an inquiry into increasing the number of registered organ and tissue donors. Despite 81 per cent of Victorians supporting organ and tissue donation, Victoria has the second lowest registration rate of all Australian states and territories, at just 23 per cent. Among young people these statistics are even lower, with just 10 per cent of Victorians aged 16 to 25 years having registered to be an organ and tissue donor. So this inquiry set out to understand why registration rates are low and what can be done to encourage more Victorians to register to become an organ and tissue donor.

Organ and tissue donation is a selfless act that has the power to save and transform lives. Transplants provide a unique opportunity for people who are very sick to improve their health and quality of life. Along with investigating how to encourage a greater rate of organ and tissue donation, this inquiry also considered some of the issues that impact donation rates. The reality that faces a grieving family when asked to provide consent to donation is not something anyone wants to experience, yet many families find the strength at a time of intense sadness to recognise that they can help others and provide consent for their loved one to become a donor.

The committee learned that registering to become an organ and tissue donor goes hand in hand with discussing your wishes with your family and loved ones. Having had a prior family discussion about donation wishes significantly influences the likelihood that a family will provide consent for a donation to proceed. Evidence tells us that family members feel much more comfortable consenting to donation when they know that they are affirming and fulfilling their family member’s donation wishes.

I mentioned earlier Victoria’s low registration rates, which are even lower for young people. The committee identified building awareness about donation among young Victorians as a key opportunity. It makes a series of recommendations to encourage this cohort to register to become a donor and share their donation wishes with family. This includes the delivery of a program targeted at 15- ‍and 16-year-olds ahead of them becoming eligible for drivers licences and incorporating donation into the school curriculum.

The committee found that South Australia has the highest donor registration rate in Australia, at 72 ‍per cent, and this is due to South Australia being the only state where it is possible to record your donation decision on your drivers licence. One of the most significant recommendations that this report makes is that the Victorian government scope the reintroduction of the option to register to become a donor on the Australian Organ Donor Register when applying for or renewing a drivers licence. This recommendation was guided by the proven success of the South Australian drivers licence registration system combined with evidence that almost all eligible Victorians hold a drivers licence.

A key topic raised throughout the inquiry was a lack of awareness and understanding about tissue donation and how it differs from organ donation, and the committee makes several recommendations to reduce this knowledge gap. Another area where there is a lack of awareness is stem cell donation, which is used to treat certain types of blood cancers, like leukaemia and lymphoma. The committee learned that Australia gets approximately three in four of its stem cell donations from overseas. This means that not enough Australians are registered to become stem cell donors on the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry, and the committee makes a series of recommendations aimed at improving this.

On behalf of the committee, I thank the expert and community witnesses who shared learnings about barriers to registering to become an organ and tissue donor and ideas to create a more accessible registration system. Evidence provided by family members of their own experiences of a loved one’s donation enriched this report and its recommendations. I am exceptionally grateful for all who shared their personal stories, and I thank them. I thank my fellow committee members for their immense contribution to this inquiry. I also extend my thanks and gratitude to the committee secretariat: Jessica Strout, Katherine Murtagh and Danielle Broadhurst. Thank you for all of your hard work, support and dedication to this important inquiry. I encourage all Victorians to consider registering to become an organ and tissue donor and have a conversation with your family about it. I commend this report to the house.