Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

It gives me great pleasure to contribute briefly to the second reading debate for this bill, the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Bill 2008.

It is fantastic to see that the bill has cross party support.

The debate over how to address the issue of organ donation in this country has been in fact a long running one, and one which I have been actively involved in since the commencement of my time in this place.

Indeed, for any of you who have had the absolute pleasure of meeting anyone of the 30,000 healthy Australians who are transplant recipients you would understand why.

The simple truth that is immediately apparent when meeting such people that—Organ transplants save lives.

In Australia we currently have around 1,800 people who are in the unfortunate position of still waiting for a suitable organ to be donated.

Luckily, we Australians live in a country that possesses a proper functioning and universal health and hospital system.

A country that has long been a world leader when it comes to clinical outcomes.

Indeed our country boasts one of the highest success rates for organ transplants in the world.

Thanks to the skilful and hard working medical teams all around the country, 90% of organ transplant patients live the see the first anniversary of their life saving surgery.

This is even higher for kidney transplant recipients, the most common form of organ transplant, with staggering 96.5% of kidney transplant recipients healthy and well a year after their surgery.

Indeed when it comes to outcomes, in terms of organ transplants in Australia, we have a lot to be proud of.

In a perfect world, each patient requiring an organ transplant would be granted a new lease on life and enjoy this 90 plus per cent success rate.

However, there is another side to successful organ transplants—and that is the unavoidable need for organ donation.

Indeed organ donation and transplantation go hand in hand, and the harsh reality is that for successful transplants to occur there must first and foremost be an organ donor.

And sadly, it is in this crucial area of organ donation that Australia, up until this point has fallen drastically short.

It is estimated that up to 32 lives can be saved from just one organ donor.

However while 90% of Australians support organ donation; sadly we have one of the lowest rates of organ donation in the world.

Remember that 1,800 Australians I mentioned earlier that are waiting desperately in hospitals and if they are lucky enough, their homes all around the country for an organ transplant—100 of these people will die before they are given the chance to receive one.

Indeed last year there were only 198 deceased organ donors in Australia, resulting in 657 transplants – meeting just one third of the demand for transplants.

The practical reality of this is that many hundreds of Australians are left waiting another year for a transplant and, as you can imagine, for a terminally sick patient waiting for a transplant—this is simply time that they do not have.

Further despite the almost perfect success rates for transplants and the high quality of clinical care available in hospitals around the country, we lag embarrassingly behind many other developed nations when it comes to donations.

The International Registry of Organ Donation reports that Australia’s donor rate in 2006 was only 9.8 donors per million people, which is significantly lower than other developed countries, such as Spain, whose donor rate in contrast was 33.8 donors per million—which is more than three times higher than Australia’s, and the United States, whose donor rate was 26.9 donors per million, more than 2 and a 1/2 times higher than that in Australia.

In fact Australia’s constantly low donor rate has lead to a situation at present where despite the fact that 90% of Australians support organ donation and we live in a country that has one of the highest success rates for organ transplants in the world—hundreds of Australians in need of a transplant are still dying before they receive one.

In July this year, with the endorsement of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) the Rudd Government announced a major new national reform package to establish Australia as a world leader in organ donation for transplantation, with funding totalling $151.1 million.

The national plan consists of five key steps:

(1)

$46 million to introduce a coordinated, consistent approach and systems under the leadership of a new, independent national authority—the Australian Organ Donation and Transplantation Authority—that is established under the bill that is before us today.

(2)

$67 million to employ trained medical specialists and other staff dedicated to organ donation who will work closely with emergency department and intensive care unit teams in selected public and private hospitals across Australia.

(3)

$17 million in new funding for hospitals to meet additional staffing, bed and infrastructure costs associated with organ donation.

(4)

$13.4 million towards raising community awareness and building public confidence in Australia’s donation for a transplantation system.

(5)

$1.9 million for counsellors to support donor families.

This is a comprehensive plan, based on international best practice that aims in the long term to establish Australia as a world leader in organ donation for transplantation.

The practical operation of the reforms will mean that

potential donors are properly identified at hospitals across the country;

every family of a potential donor will be asked about organ donation;

a dedicated specialist will work with the potential donor and their family to provide support through what is often a very, very difficult process;

hospital staff will be able to focus on donor care knowing that the hospital has a separate budget to cover organ and tissue donation;

families receive the support they need at the time of organ donation and afterwards; and

there is an equitable and safe process for managing transplant waiting lists and allocating organs once they become available.

The bill before us today seeks to give legislative effect to the first of these measures, by establishing the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority.

With $24.4 million worth of funding over 4 years, the Authority will lead a co-ordinated and consistent national approach to organ and tissue transplantation initiatives in Australia.

The Authority will be an independent agency managed by a CEO, who will be directly accountable to the Minister for Health and Ageing and be responsible for implementing the Governments $151.1 million reform package.

The Authority will:

coordinate clinicians and other hospital staff dedicated to organ and tissue donation in hospitals across the country;

train professional staff to do that;

oversee a new national network of state and territory organ and tissue donation agencies;

introduce and manage a national data and reporting system;

lead ongoing community awareness programs about organ and tissue donation and transplantation; and

work with clinical and professional organizations in developing clinical practice protocols and standards

Therefore the Authority will work with states, territories, to build a world leading organ donation and transplantation system in Australia.

It will also work with clinicians, hospitals and the community sector to educate people about donation, offer families support through this often difficult decision, and make sure that all suitable patients are identified as potential donors.

Expert advice will also be provided to the CEO of the Authority through a new Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Advisory Council that will comprise of a Chair and up to 15 members from a variety of different backgrounds including organ and tissue donation and transplantation, health consumer affairs, management and public administration.

The Authority is due to commence operation on 1 January 2009.

It’s establishment represents a most welcome and definite step forward toward improving the rates of organ donation and transplantation in Australia.

For far too long, organ donation rates in this country have lagged behind other developed nations despite the fact that we have one of the best transplant success rates in the world.

And for far too long too many Australians have endured the painful wait for that telephone call to inform them that a donor has been found—and in too many cases that call was simply never received.

With a willing community that figures proved actively supported the concept of Organ Donation, national leadership to develop a comprehensive and co-ordinated approach to lift donor rates was needed.

The establishment of the National Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority represents acts on this need.

Indeed as the Prime Minster pointed out during his second reading contribution, the measures contained in this bill provide the national leadership Australia needs to lift organ donation rates and to make it possible for our expert, and highly skilled transplant doctors and healthcare professionals to save the lives of more Australians and return them back to good health.

Further collectively the measures contained in the bill reflect international best practice and are aimed squarely at establishing Australia as a world leader when it comes to organ donation for transplantation.

As a long running advocate of the importance of organ donation I very much welcome the introduction of this bill.

I look forward to the Authorities prompt commencement on January 1 next year, and very much look forward to witnessing the gradual but noticeable increase in the rates of donation over the next couple of years as a product of its work.

The decision to become an organ donor is not always an easy one, but the simple reality is that in Australia, with our high success rate for transplants—organ donation saves lives.

While the Authority will facilitate greater co-ordination to hopefully generate higher rates of donation in the long term, the real power inevitably still rests with individual Australians making the selfless commitment to donate.

I would encourage all Australians to consider registering their consent to be an organ donor with the Organ Donation Registry. Information relating to this can be obtained from your local Medicare Australia office.

I would also encourage all Australians to consider discussing this important issue with their families and friends, which will hopefully generate greater advocacy for donation.

In the interim, it is with much pleasure that I declare my support for this bill and commend it to the Senate.