Having a heart really is a lifesaving legacy

Organ donation in Queensland has essentially recovered to pre-Covid levels, with the state’s high consent rate playing a significant part.

The latest figures show 63 per cent of Queensland families are saying ‘yes’ to their loved ones becoming donors when asked – up from 53 per cent the year prior, and exceeding the national average of 55 per cent.

Almost 35,400 Queenslanders joined the Australian Organ Donor Register in 2023.

The state also had 308 transplant recipients and 105 deceased donors.

The latter figure was one shy of Queensland’s peak in 2019, and both numbers were up from 204 and 77 in 2022.

Nationally, 1396 Australians received lifesaving organs from 513 generous donors last year – annual increases of 14 per cent and 13 per cent respectively – according to the latest Australian Donation and Transplantation Activity Report.

Organ and Tissue Authority chief executive Lucinda Barry said the national figures were just 6 per cent behind where they were before the pandemic, which had severely impacted donation and transplantation.

“We set in place a five-year strategy for recovery, and we’re a bit ahead of where we expected to be,” she said.

“Queensland has shown significant recovery. If you have a high consent rate, you will end up with a higher donation rate – you can see that (in Queensland).

“We can’t thank the people who have said ‘yes’ to donation enough.”

The OTA is also striving to get Australia’s consent rate back to pre-pandemic levels and then, to 70 per cent, which would mean an additional 300 people receiving organ transplants each year.

Family consent is required for a person to donate their organs and tissue, regardless of whether they are on the register. But when a person was registered, 80 per cent of families agreed to donation in 2023.

Factors including grief from a loved one’s passing and not knowing their wishes, perceived cultural or religious barriers, and misunderstanding the donation process can lead to families saying ‘no’ to donation.

Ms Barry said hospitals also remained under significant pressure.

“A key focus for the OTA is having a donation nurse specialist with families in all conversations about donation,” she said, noting this occurred in 84 per cent of cases in 2023.

“Having a specialist who has the time and the knowledge to answer families’ questions results in more people agreeing to donation.

“We also ask people to take a minute to register via donatelife.gov.au or the Medicare app, and let their family know that they want to be a donor,” she said. donate.gov.au