Anne Urquhart (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think most people here will know that DonateLife started yesterday. It's really important that people register as organ and tissue donors. It's also important to talk to your family about donation. A number of years ago, my dear Aunty Gaye passed away. She became a donor, which was very humbling for our family. A few years after she passed away and became a donor, my sister's husband became a recipient. What that means to families is really beyond words. It's hard to put into words how that makes you feel. We know that four in five Australians say that they support organ donation, but you really have to register. The message is to go out and register, because many of those people who support organ donation are not registered.

It's also important that you have that discussion with your family. Your family needs to know because the organ donation is possibly going to happen at a time when you are not in a state to be able to say, so it's really important that your family really understands what your wishes are. I know that after my auntie passed away we all sat down and talked about it, and our whole family now understands what our wishes are. It is really important to make sure that that gets to everyone.

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