Joanna Gash (Gilmore, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Earlier this year, in the Herald-Sun newspaper, Kate Sikora wrote a piece about Demi-Lee Brennan, a young girl who comes from Kiama in my electorate of Gilmore. The article describes her as the ‘one in six billion miracle girl’ and recounts her story where, after having an organ transplant, she changed blood types. The article says:

... the teenager is the first transplant patient in the world to switch blood types and take on the immune system of her organ donor. Her body’s ability to accept a new liver then miraculously produce new blood cells on its own has left doctors mystified.

The unique phenomenon now means Demi, 15, won’t have to take a cocktail of anti-rejection drugs for the rest of her life. It also gives hope to the 1800 gravely ill  Australians awaiting a transplant.

The article goes on to say that Australia is amongst the lowest organ donating countries in the world, with just something like 9.8 donors per million people. For legally valid consent registrations, amongst the most generous are females in Western Australia, representing 11.43 per cent of the state’s population. The least generous, it seems, according to Medicare Australia, are males in the Northern Territory, representing 3.7 per cent of that state’s population. In New South Wales, female donors outweigh the male donors—5.66 per cent to 4.09 per cent.

The gift of life is precious, and what better gesture than to donate your organs to benefit someone after you have finished with them. There is no point in taking them with you. One of those doing their bit to advance the rate of voluntary donation is Brad Rossiter, who lives in the Batemans Bay area. Brad is the grateful recipient of a kidney and pancreas transplant. He writes:

I live on the South Coast of NSW at Batemans Bay and have done so for over 22 yrs. I have been married to Lorae for over 21 yrs and we have a son 19yrs and is an apprentice Auto Electrician here in Batemans Bay. I am 43 yrs old and am a qualified Butcher by trade. I had been until the 11th May 2007 a Type 1 Diabetic, and having type 1 for so long I have suffered a few of the complications that go with this, and they are Amputations to my left leg and my right big & little toes. I am legally blind and was on Dialysis for 7 yrs due to Chronic Renal Failure. But on the 11th May 2007 I received the greatest gift that any Australian can receive, and that was a Kidney & a Pancreas Transplant. So now after 36 yrs I have been given by another Australian a second chance at Life. Having been through what I and my family have, I have established the Eurobodalla Renal Support Group & Organ Donor Awareness. Of course these issues are most important to me and my family and they are certainly very important to the many thousands of Australians who still await an Organ Transplant. I think that if Organ Donation was made more open for talk by the leader of our Australia then Australian people might not be as timid to become Organ Donors. This must be made an open topic to discuss by all, rather than a small form in the back of the local Medicare office.

According to the David Hookes Foundation website, research shows that more than 97 per cent of Australians say they support organ donation but this is not reflected in the registration rate. Organs that can be donated are the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys and pancreas. Tissues that can be donated are the corneas—the film on the front of the eyes—skin, bone and heart valves. An individual may specify which organs and tissue he or she wishes to donate on the Medicare form. At 3 January 2008, 1,875 people were waiting for organ transplants: 1,388 were waiting for a kidney, 100 were waiting for a heart, 198 for a liver, 141 for lungs and 48 for a pancreas. In 2007, there were 198 organ donors, from whom 626 transplants were performed. My mother was a very grateful recipient of an eye transplant some years ago. The operation improved the quality of her life remarkably and allowed her to enjoy her few remaining years just that little bit more.

Mr Speaker, we can do better and we should do better. This is a challenge. Perhaps, as a gesture, both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition could do more about the education of Australians so that they consider becoming organ donors. Are there restrictions for registering as an organ donor? If you are aged 18 years or over, you can register your consent to have your organs or tissue on the Australian Organ Donor Register. Equally, you can register your objection. If you are aged 16 or 17 years, you can register your intention to donate on the Australian Organ Donor Register. Individuals under 18 years can still become donors if a family member gives their consent. Both the elderly and the young can donate—the oldest cornea donor was 103.

Mr Speaker, I will certainly take up Brad’s challenge to make a concerted effort in educating our people in Gilmore to the benefits of becoming organ donors. (Time expired)