DonateLife Network updates

2025 Donation and Transplantation Conference

Have you registered for the 2025 Donation and Transplantation Conference yet? If not, now is the perfect time to secure your place! 

The Organ and Tissue Authority looks forward to welcoming clinicians to the 2025 Donation and Transplantation Conference from 14-16 May in Melbourne at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The conference theme is ‘Navigating new frontiers’. 

Day 1 and 2 of the conference has a clinical focus, for a clinical audience. The initial program will be released in March 2025. There is an optional networking event held following day 1 of the conference. 

Day 3 of the conference is the inaugural DonateLife Community Forum for a clinical and community audience. The forum brings together supporters, volunteers, community members, stakeholders and clinicians to build support for the national DonateLife program. The agenda, to be released in March 2025, will include presentations from experts, and community-led discussions on working together to increase Australia’s donation rates for more life-saving transplants. 

You can register to attend the DonateLife Community Forum in person or join online via the live stream. 

Registration for day 1 and 2 of the conference is open to clinicians in the donation and transplantation sector only. Day 3 is the DonateLife Community Forum and is open to both clinicians and community members. 

Register by 5 pm AEST on Wednesday 16 April to secure your place. Find out how on the Donation and Transplantation Conference website. 

International Society for Organ Donation Professionals (ISODP) 2025 Congress

In 2024, the ACT experienced a notable 62.5% increase in actual donors. Our intended donors also increased slightly. Although a small jurisdiction, this was a significant improvement compared to the previous year. 

Despite a slower start to 2025, we remain focused on understanding why more Canberra families are declining donation. Despite this, we remain optimistic that with a strong referral rate we will continue to provide the opportunity to everyone who is eligible.   

After years of planning, the new critical services building at the Canberra Hospital saw patients moved and settled in on Saturday 17 August 2024. The new building with ED, ICU and theatres has allocated space for the DonateLife ACT team. The creation of this world-class facility has led to a change in practice with withdrawal of cardio-respiratory support now routinely occurring in theatres. 

PARTY Program

We’ve had a busy start to the year. The PARTY program has begun for a milestone 10th year, and our team will attend both in-house ICU and outreach programs during school terms. Where possible, a DSNC will join us to assist with in-house delivery. This is always a welcome addition and brings clinical and personal ICU and donor family experience.

O-week activities

With the assistance of Gift of Life Inc. and volunteers, we attended the University of Canberra O-week market day, the Canberra Institute of Technology orientation days and the Australian National University market day. Each of these provided excellent opportunities to engage with students and campus staff, with over 1000 visitors to our stalls.  

We also had an information and merchandise stall at the Multicultural Festival and although numbers were down from last year, engagement with visitors to the stall was extremely positive.

Wendy from DonateLife ACT and Steve from Gift of Life Inc. at the DonateLife stall at the Australian National University O-week market day.	Taryn from the Gift of Life Inc. and Lisa from DonateLife ACT at the University of Canberra O-week event.	Trainee donation specialist nurse coordinator Matt at a Canberra Institute of Technology O-week event.

Service of Remembrance

In February, Sean Dicks, our Family Support Coordinator, planned and ran yet another humbling and moving Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving. There were approximately 140 donor families, recipients and others with connection to organ and tissue donation attending. We heard from an ICU nurse, someone who donated their kidney, a person who had multiple corneal transplants and a Donation Specialist Nurse.

The service this year had special significance, as 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of organ donation in the ACT. We were honoured to share a video featuring Marjorie Taylor, the mother of Annette Taylor who at her time of passing was just 11 years old when she became the ACT’s first organ donor. Marjorie, her son Michael and his wife were also at the Service. 

Gift of Life Walk

We also attended the annual Gift of Life Walk in late February, which is always a highlight in the calendar. Thank you to all the wonderful Canberrans who joined us for the annual awareness-raising walk around Lake Burley Griffin. Walking the 5 km loop with so many people who are passionate about organ and tissue donation always makes us so proud.

Attendees gather at the start line of the annual Gift of Life Walk in Canberra.	Governor General Sam Mostyn AC speaks to attendees at the annual Gift of Life Walk in Canberra.	Attendees at the annual Gift of Life Walk in Canberra.

The second half of 2024 saw an increase in donation activity compared to the first 6 months. By the end of the year, NSW recorded 136 actual donors, a decrease of 4.2% compared with 2023; and 37 intended donors, an increase of 2.8% compared with the previous year. 

Despite these changes, the total number of consented donors remained stable from 2023, marking 2024 as the fourth-highest year since national reform began. The impact of the pandemic on donation activities has largely passed, yet NSW has not returned to the growth trajectory seen before the pandemic.  

Significant improvements were noted in achieving key performance indicators critical for donation conversation outcomes, notably a 92% involvement rate of Donation Specialist Nurses in conversations. The year also saw 1,855 end-of-life referrals to the Organ and Tissue Donation Service, up 6% from 2023. The primary challenge was the failure to obtain consent from next-of-kin, with a consent rate of 49.8% in 2024, slightly down from 2023. This trend represents a continued decline over the past 6 years. Addressing this declining consent rate amidst process improvements remains the primary challenge for the Organ and Tissue Donation Service and will be a significant focus in 2025. 

Mardi Gras Fair Day

The DonateLife NSW team went to the Mardi Gras Fair Day on Sunday 16 February, where we engaged with many of the 80,000 attendees. It was an amazing opportunity to share information about the importance of organ and tissue donation and show off the DonateLife magenta! 

Ekushe Bookfair

In February DonateLife NSW attended the Ekushe Bookfair and International Mother Language Day. This is a valuable opportunity to reach out to the Sydney Bangladesh community, and complements our 3-year project with Southern Cross University to co-create resources with 4 CALD communities (including the Bangladesh community).

Sydney and Newcastle Services of Remembrance

Three hundred and fifty people attended the Service of Remembrance held in Sydney in November, which was both streamed and recorded for wider accessibility. Additionally, a service in Newcastle saw 120 donor families and recipients gather to honour and remember their loved ones. 

Speakers and photos of loved ones during the Sydney Service of Remembrance.	The Newcastle Service of Remembrance.

Flickerfest Filmmaking Competition

The DonateLife NT team kicked off the year with a visit to Katherine to attend the Welcome To The Top End Defence Expo on Friday 31 January, for arriving Defence personnel. 

In addition to connecting with the new arrivals, Donation Specialist Nurse Felicity Clyne gave an engaging presentation at the Katherine Hospital which was attended by ICU medical professionals. 

Our team also took the opportunity while in Katherine to spend a few days meeting with the local library, the council, the police, a private medical practice, and Aboriginal Community Controlled Healthcare Organisations. They promoted awareness around organ donation, family conversations and the importance of organ donation registration. 

Felicity Clyne presenting information to the ICU team at the Katherine Hospital.	The passive stall presented at the front of the Katherine Library with information and merchandise for the community.

Welcome to the Top End Defence Expo

One week later on Saturday 8 February, the team attended the Welcome To The Top End Defence Expo in Darwin. The DonateLife stall was a great success. In addition to sharing information about organ donation, the team were able to connect with other community groups and secure partnerships with organisations to assist with future community engagement. The event also proved to be a lovely opportunity to speak with a donor family member who has moved up from Western Australia. We connected with someone who had a kidney transplant, and they kindly agreed to become a volunteer. 

PARTY program

The Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth (PARTY) program, run by the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, is an ongoing initiative we’re proud to be involved with. Our team attends the events and delivers thought-provoking presentations. The first event was held on Friday 7 February, where the students gave us their full attention and asked excellent questions about the intricacies of organ donation. 

Purple House/Panuku connections

For many years, our team have had a good relationship with Purple House/Panuku, an Aboriginal Community Controlled Healthcare Organisation, who support people on dialysis. On Wednesday 15 January we connected over a morning tea with their team. We discussed how we could provide support to communities and bust some myths around organ donation and transplantation. The patient preceptors, all of whom have had kidney transplants, have agreed to talk on First Nation radio stations about kidney health, including organ donation. In turn, our team will assist with some much-needed fundraising for Purple House at events also promoting awareness around organ donation. 

In 2024, 96 Queenslanders became organ donors, which was a 9% decline from 2023. In 2023, there was a 36% increase in donor numbers following 2022. Queensland’s consent rate for organ donation was 53% in 2024, a 10% decrease from 2023. 

Regional hospitals represented 51% of donors in 2024, while the remaining 49% of donors were from metropolitan hospitals. 

The Queensland Tissue Bank reported 622 deceased tissue donors in 2024. 

Queensland’s focus in 2024 was increasing registration through stakeholder engagement with the Department of Transport and Main Roads, and increasing awareness through community engagement with schools, community groups and volunteers. 

Charleville donation specialist coordinator visit

The response from locals was positive. Members eagerly engaged in discussions and proudly shared they were registered donors, including the mayor, who is also the local butcher. Prue and Gareth had the opportunity to meet donor mum Nataly, who was happy for her son Wesley’s donation story to be shared. This added a personal connection to organ donation for Charleville locals. Prue and Gareth formed meaningful connections in this regional Queensland town and the community's support for organ and tissue donation highlighted Charleville's spirit of generosity. 

DSCs Gareth and Prue at Charleville Royal Flying Doctor Service Centre.	DSCs Prue and Gareth with the Charleville Mayor Cr Shaun (Zoro) Radnedge.

DSCs Prue and Gareth meeting with donor mum Nataly at the local Charleville RSL Club.	DSCs Gareth and Prue running an education session with doctors and nurses at Charleville Hospital.

In SA there were 44 organ donors in 2024, a 10% decrease from 49 in 2023. However, it is important to acknowledge despite a decrease in the consent rate, SA continues to maintain a consistently high rate of 23.5 donors per million population (dpmp), close to the national target of 25 dpmp. There were 103 overall transplant recipients from South Australia in 2024, compared to 116 in 2023. 

To increase organ donation rates into the future South Australia will focus on increasing the consent rate, which was 55% in 2024 compared with 58% in 2023. We continue to see several families overturning registration decisions. DonateLife SA are continuing to uncover and explore the reasons for the decline in consent. 

Regarding overall transplantation rates, South Australia saw a 4% decrease, which was consistent with the national decrease (5%) in 2024. 

Community engagement

The Run for Hope raises money for SA families to provide support, but mainly to recognise and acknowledge the important work that DonateLife does. The event organisers plan to run the event to coincide with DonateLife Week in 2025.  

 

DonateLife supporting the Run for Hope Boxing Day 2024	Dimitri Tsekinis addressing the West Lakes Businesswomen’s Club in Adelaide supporting DonateLife SA.

DonateLife SA is slowly re-engaging with its volunteer cohort and is organising community engagement opportunities. We have recently attended the West Lakes Retired Businesswomen’s Club with volunteer Dimitri, and the Adelaide University O-week.

DonateLife TAS completed an extraordinary year of clinical activity in 2024, reaching a record outcome of 25 deceased organ and tissue donors, up 19% from 21 donors in 2023. 

This resulted in Tasmania achieving the highest ever donors per million population (dpmp) rate of 43.5 dpmp. 

The consent rate for Tasmania was 72%, which is well above the national average of 53% and the highest nationally for 2024.  

These record outcomes for Tasmania are the result of the incredible generosity of Tasmanian families who said yes to donation. And we must mention the dedication of the DonateLife leadership and clinical teams, who have worked to continuously improve referral pathways and clinical practice. Also behind the success of 2024 is the ongoing support for donation provided by Tasmanian hospital and health service staff statewide.  

PARTY program

Victoria led the nation with 162 donors in 2024, an increase of 14% on our 2023 figure and our equal second-best year on record in terms of donor activity. 

We’re very proud of what we achieved last year. This wouldn’t be possible without the dedication and commitment of our donation specialist staff, agency staff, and all our colleagues in ICUs and Emergency Departments across the state who continue to prioritise donation. 

Donation and Transplantation Symposium

WA had 256 actual donors (organ, tissue and/or eye), a 36% increase compared to 2023, and 10 intended donors (organ, tissue and/or eye), a 44% decrease compared to 2023. Donation activity was the highest in the first half of 2024.   

Number of consents relates to number of donors so in 2024 we had more family members consent to donation compared to 2023.  

With regards to transplants – from the 46 WA organ donors in 2024, 132 organs were retrieved and transplanted. 

The focus in 2024 was to improve our stakeholder relationship within our major hospitals.  We will continue to strengthen these relationships and expand our presence wherever opportunities arise in 2025.  

Service of Remembrance

We look forward to holding our 2025 Service of Remembrance at the new City Beach Surf Lifesaving Club, which includes the option of air-conditioned comfort and kitchen facilities. 

Hon Pierre Yang MLC, Aaron Donor Heart Recipient, Rose Parker Donor family member Dr David Blythe State Medical Director and Professor Ulrich Stock Fiona Stanley Hospitals Cardiothoracic Consultant and Transplant Surgeon	Service of Remembrance display table.

Corroboree for Life performed a spiritual dance at the Service of Remembrance.	Clinical nurse specialists Katerina Helmis, Nicola Fletcher and Vanessa Weatherley.

Public Health realignment

From April 2025, the reporting of Public Health service (which includes DonateLife WA) will move into the Consumer Experience and Clinical Excellence (CECE) directorate, led by Executive Director Dr Christina Bertilone. We’re supportive of this change and see an opportunity for improvement to our service.  

Janette Hall Scholarship: Barcelona training course

Two Donation Specialist Coordinators from DonateLife WA, Tanya Badenhorst and Natala Taylor, recently visited Spain to understand why it is considered the world leader in organ procurement and donation. 

They attended the Transplant Procurement Management Advanced International Training Course in Barcelona, thanks to the Janette Hall Professional Training and Development Scholarship. 

Tanya said the scholarship provided an amazing opportunity to learn from leading experts in the field with a wealth of knowledge and hands on experience in critical areas. 

‘Spain has a soft ‘opt-out’ organ donor registration system and like Australia, their donation teams seek final consent from donor families before donation occurs,’ Tanya said. ‘Spain also uses an advanced medical technique, called normothermic regional perfusion, which improves the viability of organs by keeping them warm and well supplied with blood before they are transplanted.’ 

There have been several changes for the analytics and technology team, with Mark McDonald returning to the position of national manager after a year of long service leave. Kane Deering returns to the role of director, having acted as national manager in Mark’s absence. We farewelled Atika Farooqui, who did an excellent job as director in Kane’s stead. The team was also sad to say farewell to Byron Arcia after a decade at the OTA. Two new members joined the team in late 2024, with Wen Chee starting as data analyst and Sreerag Yesodharan as data engineer. 

In the clinical programs team, Madhu Raman has recently commenced in the role of national education lead. This position is a leadership role, providing professional and technical educational expertise to the OTA, DonateLife network and the broader clinical community across the donation, retrieval and transplantation system in Australia. The clinical programs team express their gratitude to Bianca Topp who ably backfilled the National Training Coordinator role during Bernie Dwyer’s long service leave. Fortunately, Bianca will continue to work with the web coaching program, a workshop facilitator and an education specialist with OTA, in addition to her role with DonateLife QLD. 

We’re also pleased to welcome Emma Johnson to the OTA in October, in the new role of HR officer. 

Congratulations to Dani Quiggin for successfully completing her orientation as a DSNC at the end of last year. 

We are currently undergoing a recruitment round to expand our clinical team. 

NSW