One of the things that horrifies me, is that Australia has such a low organ donation rate. In fact, Australia has one of the lowest organ donation rates in the developed world.

There are around 1700 people on the organ transplant waiting list at any one time, of which the lucky ones wait as little as six months and the unlucky up to four years for an organ transplant. Last year there were only 309 donations across the country, which represents just under 14 donations per million people. If you were a betting man, you wouldn’t bother placing a bet with odds like that.

Most people don’t know the organ donation wishes of their family members and when push comes to shove, it is the last thing on a families mind when someone passes away – which is one of the reasons we have such a low organ donation rate. A lot of people assumed by ticking the organ donation checkbox on their drivers license that was sufficient, however it isn’t enough.

Medicare now allows you to register for organ donation online, it takes about 30 seconds to fill out the form. By doing so, the government will post you a form for you to complete, sign and return. The medical staff will still ask your family if they want to donate your organs and tissue, which they could object to – however the likelihood when you’ve specifically granted permission through the organ donation register is very unlikely.

I’d urge everyone reading this to take 30 seconds to complete the online organ donation registration form. You never know if and when someone in your family might need an organ transplant and with the current dismal organ donation rates, they could be waiting a very long time. Once you’ve filled out the online form, make a point of having a discussion with your family about your organ donation wishes and get them to join the organ donation register if that is their wish as well.

Become and organ donor today & save a life in the future.