- Sharelife answers more questions on the ins and outs of organ donation.

A report just released suggested Australia had made good ground in increasing the number of organ donations, yet as Dr. Peter Saul explained today on Sunrise, we have a long, long way to go until we approach world best standards.

"I'm glad for the ninety extra people [who received organs] but we are still at the bottom of the heap..."

Is it just political spin telling us that Rudd's changes are working or are there real changes taking place?

Rebecca Wilson from organ donation group Sharelife explains what PM Rudd's recent decision should mean for the future of Australian Organ Donation.

1.         What does this latest win mean for Organ Adoption donors and recipients?

We haven’t had a win yet.  We have seen a commitment by the Prime Minister.  The win for Australians will be achieved when those in the government, departments of health and the public more generally do what they are supposed to and successfully implement the practice and procedures that are in place in the world’s leading countries.  We need to get our access to transplants from 30 per million people to up to 90 per million which is what happens in the US, France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Austria. Australians only have a third the access to transplants of people living in these countries so we have a way to go yet.

In his July announcement the Prime Minister said: ‘Transplantation is a highly successful treatment that transforms the lives of individuals and the families who care for them. Australian families deserve the best organ donation and transplantation system in the world but our current system falls short.’

The Australian Organ and Tissue Donation legislation has now been passed which means that a national authority is being established.  The legislation mandates implementation of the reform package announced by the Prime Minister in July together with funding of $151m to give Australia a world class system for organ donation and transplantation.

2.         When will the planned changes begin to take effect?

The new national authority will commence work in early 2009 to put the reform package in place but the key to its success will be strong leadership from the authority's new CEO, the Department of Health and the Prime Minister with ongoing support from the ShareLife team of experts (leading doctors, lawyers, CEOs, psychologists, management consultants etc).

When major change to a system is required there's often resistance from people involved who either don't understand or are unable to put in place the necessary changes.  ShareLife and supporters of the Sunrise campaign can make sure the changes do get made by being aware of what's needed and asking the right questions of the people who have responsibility for making these changes.

3.         How can Sunrise viewers best support organ donations?

The best thing any Australian can do to support organ donation is to become fully informed, confident and comfortablewith all aspects of transplantation.  The Fact Sheet available on the Sunrise website answers many of the questions people have had about the organ donation process.  There's been a lot of confusion and misinformation in the community and ShareLife and Sunrise have been working together to make sure the facts are better known.  Our aim is to get the right information to people to help families and their loved ones to have confidence and comfort when the time comes to make the decisions about whether to donate organs.

4.         Does this mean the conclusion of campaigning by Sunrise, Sharelife and others over organ donation? Why?

Getting the commitment for reform and the funding from the Prime Minister was just the beginning.  The hard work is yet to be done to make sure people's suffering is reduced and more lives are saved.  We have a chance now to bring the Australian organ donation system up to the same standard as six other leading countries.  

This means three times more lives can be improved or saved in Australia each year.  ShareLife, Sunrise and the community as a whole needs to be well informed about the facts to do with organ donation. We need to deal with the myths and misconceptions that are out there.  We also need to make sure the reform package gets implemented so we can have one of the best systems in the world. Over 1,000 more lives per year can be improved or saved if we get this right!

More info

Sunrise stories on Organ Donation

Organ donation - the facts you need to know