Page 628 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 9 March 2011
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donors and their families and the dedication of our medical staff in making the gift of sight possible.
I depart from the speech very briefly and record my appreciation of and respect for Glenys Cody, who was in a magazine recently talking about the donation of the organs of one her sons who tragically died at too early an age. The decision that she made to respect his wishes I thought was a courageous one and needs our respect and acknowledgement.
Despite these encouraging results, though, and the increase in funds and staffing for organ and tissue donation services nationally under the reform package, there is a need to ensure a well-informed and educated community. Therefore, community education and awareness are incredibly important, especially as only 40 per cent of Australians know the donation wishes of their loved ones.
Critical to improving Australia’s organ donation rate is our ability to encourage every Australian family to discuss, accept and respect each other’s wishes regarding organ and tissue donation. We know that families who know their loved one’s wishes about organ and tissue donation are highly likely to uphold those wishes. We know that if all Australians knew their loved one’s wishes, we would have a higher family consent rate. We can increase family consent rates by ensuring that our family know our wishes and that we know the wishes of our own family.
Every Australian has the potential to save lives. This is why the Australian Organ and Tissue Authority launched, in November 2009, a national public awareness program to encourage every Australian to discover the facts about donation, to decide to become a donor and to discuss with their family and their friends their wishes.
In addition, if people decide to become organ donors they can register on the Australian organ donor register. While registration is not essential to becoming a donor, it does make your wishes quite clear. It is important that your family knows your wishes.
Our thanks go to Gift of Life Inc and Transplant Australia ACT. Funded through ACT Health, Gift of Life conducts advocacy about organ and tissue donation, and recently again organised several very successful events in what is now known as DonateLife Week across Australia. DonateLife Week is held in February each year to raise awareness nationally of the importance of organ and tissue donation and to encourage all Australians to discover the facts and to discuss their wishes with their family. For more information, people can go to their website: www.donatelife.gov.au.
Over 20 community events were held in the ACT, including the DonateLife walk, the launch of the “Book of life”, the Heart to Heart ball and the Chief Minister’s awards for organ and tissue donation awareness. I congratulate the staff of DonateLife ACT, Gift of Life Inc and Transplant Australia ACT on the organisation of the inaugural DonateLife Week.
DonateLife ACT staff assisted with various community organised events, including the David Gough bike ride for organ and tissue donor awareness through the ACT, New South Wales and Victoria. Also, two film nights about organ and tissue donor
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