DonateLife Network updates

Lucinda Barry - Chief Executive Officer

Dear DonateLife team, 

It’s hard to believe that another DonateLife Week has already come and gone. There’s always so much planning that goes into DonateLife Week right across the network. It’s a mammoth effort across Australia, so my sincere thanks and appreciation to everyone involved.  

This DonateLife Network Update is a special DonateLife Week wrap up edition. Read more below and find results, including brand awareness, how many registrations we achieved, media reach and events that took place across the country. We’ll return to the regular features in November.  

In the meantime, we’re keen to know what you think about the DonateLife Network Update – whether you enjoy this format, whether you find it useful overall, and what you’d like to see in it going forward. Please let us know what you think by completing a quick survey – it will only take a few minutes of your time, and will help us make sure this channel is meeting your needs. Complete the survey.   

Now, back to DonateLife Week. I was in Melbourne to kick things off. I joined the Commonwealth Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, The Hon Ged Kearney MP, at the national media launch. This took place at the Royal Children’s Hospital on Sunday 28 July. It was wonderful to meet 4 families of children who have received transplants at the hospital, and it was especially wonderful to meet Madison, Aru and Leila who were all happy, healthy and super cute! I was touched by the stories they shared and delighted to see the girls in such good health. The cameras and crowd were a little scary for them, but the absolute hit were the special plushies of the organs they had received. Little Harlen, who was a star in our DonateLife Week campaign was unable to make it, but his dad made a very heartfelt speech telling their story and the absolute thanks they had for their donor family.

Three women stand in front of microphones, with DonateLife banners behind them. The woman in the middle is giving a speech. A woman stands with 3 children, holding organ plushies, as they smile for a photo together. The woman is looking down at the children and smiling. A man standing in front of DonateLife banners speaks into several microphones set up in front of him.
Associate Professor Helen Opdam, Assistant Minister the Hon. Ged Kearney, and OTA CEO Lucinda Barry AM at the launch of DonateLife Week at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. 
Assistant Minister the Hon. Ged Kearney MP with transplant recipients Madison, Aru and Leila at the DonateLife Week launch at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. 
Matt Busuttil, the father of 2-year-old liver transplant recipient Harlen, telling his family’s story at the DonateLife Week launch at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. 

Another highlight of the week was attending 3 events hosted by some of the OTA’s 2024 community partners. The first was a sold-out concert in St Kilda headlined by The Oz Transplants. All members of the band have received a transplant or are living donors, and support acts included some brilliant African and Indigenous musicians. I did have my moment on stage with the microphone... but luckily it was not to sing! I spoke about the importance of raising awareness and registration – asking everyone in the room to help us spread the word. 

A band performs on stage, lit up by blue stage lights. Visible in the picture are a bass player, a male and a female singer, a trumpet player, a trombone player, and several people behind them dancing and singing along.

The Oz Transplants (supported by DonateLife VIC staff) perform at their DonateLife Week concert, held at the Memo Music Hall in St Kilda.

The second event was a luncheon with Chinese community leaders, organised by the Rejoice Chinese Christian Communication Centre. The event launched the Grace to Others booklet and a DonateLife Week exhibition in Box Hill Baptist Church, aiming to raise awareness of organ donation in the Chinese community. Nina Seng, Regional Nurse Manager for DonateLife Victoria, gave a beautiful speech in both English and Mandarin at the event. We’ve recorded this speech and look forward to sharing it with you. 

Five people standing together, smiling and posing for a group photo. A group of people line up to cut a red ribbon strung across a large doorway. Others are grouped in front of them, taking photos of the moment.  A woman stands at a podium, in the middle of giving a speech.
Lucinda Barry (far right), with Rejoice Chinese Christian Communication Centre chairman Raymond Chow (second from left) and members of the Rejoice community. 
Lucinda Barry and event VIPs cut the ribbon to open Rejoice Chinese Christian Communication Centre’s DonateLife Week exhibition.  
Nina Seng, Regional Nurse Manager for DonateLife Victoria, gave a speech at the Rejoice Chinese Christian Communication Centre’s event. 

Lastly, I attended an event run by another community partner, the African Women and Families Network. I was joined by Assistant Minister Kearney and OTA Advisory Board Chair Helen Szoke AO. I took part in a Q&A panel together with recipients and a donor family to address myths and misconceptions about organ and tissue donation. 

Five people sit on a stage, in the middle of a discussion. The woman on the left is speaking into a microphone and looking into the crowd, while the others are looking at her as she speaks.

The Q&A panel at the African Women and Families Network event: Lucinda Barry; epidemiologist Dr Michael Muleme; donor family Kelly Anderson; kidney recipient Hussein Ahmed; and Ahmed’s sister and nurse, Ikram Ahmed.

I was also delighted to attend Melbourne Storm’s DonateLife Match Day and see AAMI Stadium light up magenta again. We had LED signage, big screen ads, banner messages, a half-time activation and messages on all the food and beverage screens.  

We also had the opportunity to inspire the players leading up to match day. Donor family John Lowe went to the Storm’s training session and shared his story. He told how he and wife Louise had discussed donation, which meant when Louise suddenly died, he knew what she wanted. Louise saved many lives by donating her organs and tissues, including a 5-year-old boy. Everyone in the room was very moved. 

 A photo from AAMI Park, which shows one of the big screens in the stadium. A woman in a magenta beanie is projected onto the screen. She is speaking into a blue microphone.  A family photo taken on the field at a sporting arena. Two young boys wear Melbourne Storm jerseys, a baby is sitting on one of the boy’s shoulders and wearing a magenta DonateLife beanie, and a woman also wearing a beanie holds onto the baby and is smiling at her. 
Lucinda Barry speaks about DonateLife Week at Melbourne Storm’s DonateLife Match Day.
Lung transplant recipient Mason (front middle) with his brother Connor, baby sister Eloise, and mum Tatiana at Melbourne Storm’s DonateLife Match Day. 

Of course, even with DonateLife Week underway, we continued with our regular activities. During July we held our second Eye and Tissue Advisory Committee meeting for the year; the Transplant Advisory Group took place; and we hosted a workshop with members of the National Indigenous Kidney Transplantation Taskforce. In August, we held meetings with our Clinical Governance Committee, Jurisdictional Advisory Group and Vigilance and Surveillance Expert Advisory Committee, and held a joint workshop with Kidney Health Australia. 

Finally, some significant news in August was a joint announcement by the Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC, and Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, the Hon. Ged Kearney. The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) will undertake an inquiry into human tissue laws across Australia. It has been almost 50 years since the human tissue acts in each state and territory were enacted. These acts have not kept pace with social, technological and scientific changes, and all governments have recognised the need to review and harmonise human tissue legislation. Please reach out to your Agency leadership team if you need more details. 

Warm wishes 

Lucinda 

What's coming up

DateActivity

Tuesday 1 - Sunday 6 October 

Australian Transplant Games, Canberra 

Thursday 17 - Friday 18 October 

Australian College of Critical Care Nurses (ACCCN) Annual Education Meeting (AEM), Hobart 

Wednesday 23 - Sunday 27 October 

American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week 2024, San Diego USA 

Tuesday 29 October 

OTA Eye and Tissue Advisory Committee (ETAC) meeting 

Thursday 7 November 

OTA Family Support and Advisory Group (FSAG) meeting 

Tuesday 12 November 

OTA Data and Audit Working Group (DAWG) meeting 

Wednesday 13 November 

OTA Clinical Governance Committee (CGC) meeting 

Thursday 14 November 

OTA Jurisdictional Advisory Group (JAG) meeting  

Sunday 17 November 

DonateLife Thank You Day 

Wednesday 20 November 

OTA Transplant Advisory Group (TAG) meeting 

Tuesday 26 NovemberOTA Advisory Board meeting

2024 NSW Organ and Tissue Donation Service Symposium  

Preserving the Donation Opportunity  

The NSW Organ and Tissue Donation Service invites you to its annual Clinical Symposium.  

Date: Wednesday 27 November 2024  
Time: 8:30 am–4:30 pm (networking drinks 5 pm–7 pm)  
Venue: Rydges World Square, Grand Ballroom, 389 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000  

RSVP by 25 October via the online registration form

Commonwealth Tribute to Life ‘Sharing Knowledge’ webinar series 

Research-based lessons: Barriers and solutions to deceased donation 

On Monday 30 September, an online webinar shared insights from Dr Britzer Paul’s PhD thesis into the socio-ecological factors affecting deceased organ donation. The talk was followed by a Q&A and an expert panel discussion on how the findings and outcomes are applicable across the deceased organ donation programs of the wider Commonwealth.  

Lungitude Foundation Annual Lung Transplant Research Presentation 

Hear from world-class researchers about the innovative projects they are working on to improve outcomes for lung transplant recipients. 

Date: Wednesday 16 October 2024 
Time: 9:30 am to 11 am 
Venue: The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne or online via Zoom 
Register to attend in person
Register to attend via Zoom

The presentation will be recorded and available for viewing on the Lungitude Foundation website by the end of October. 

Save the date: 2025 ISODP International Congress 

The 17th biennial ISODP congress will be held in Kyoto, Japan, from Wednesday 3 to Saturday 6 December 2025. Make sure to mark these dates in your diary – more information and registrations to come. 

ISODP name change: now International Society of Organ Donation Professionals 

The International Society for Organ Donation and Procurement (ISODP) have changed the name of the society to the International Society of Organ Donation Professionals. 

If you are interested in becoming a member of ISODP, membership can be applied for or renewed online

DonateLife Week: National results

This year we implemented a new, phased strategy for DonateLife Week.  

  • Phase 1: Activate our supporters and gather groundswell in the community. 
  • Phase 2: Generate awareness and action. 

 Research tells us that only 20% of those registered are actively encouraging others to do the same. Yet 70% of those registered said if we asked them to do something to help us, then they would. Phase 1 was all about turning these passive advocates into active advocates. 

This then led to Phase 2, where we used the groundswell of support to generate awareness and encourage those who were not registered to take action. 

A magenta poster featuring a smiling young girl in pink overalls. The headline reads. ‘Help us register more people as organ and tissue donors. Learn how to get involved this DonateLife Week: donatelife.gov.au/getinvolved’.

Our DonateLife Week 2024 creative featuring Mia, a liver recipient

By the numbers: 

  • 5,202 resources downloaded from the website 
  • 496 cafes across Australia involved 
  • 66 monuments lit up across the country 
  • 2 information webinars run for the first time 
  • 8 launch events across the country  
  • Hundreds of volunteers involved across the country 

We started phase 1 of the campaign by hosting 2 inaugural webinar supporter information sessions to provide information to volunteers and staff about ways they could get involved. There were more than 100 attendees and feedback was positive. 

We updated the resources page of the DonateLife website to be more user-friendly and added some new additions, such as flyers for our volunteers to take to their local club or workplace. This was a big success, with 5,202 resources downloaded.  

We continued our coffee cup activation with cafes from previous years. Our supporters helped distribute coffee cup stickers to cafes across the country and encouraged cafes to sign up. We were happy to see coffee cup registrations grow to be bigger and better, with a 104% increase on 2023 results. We distributed one million stickers and many cafes posted their involvement on their social channels. 

It was also wonderful to achieve a 37.5% increase in lighting up the nation magenta, with 66 monuments lighting up around the country during DonateLife Week, compared to 48 in 2023. 

: The entry of Luna Park, Melbourne is pictured at night lit up in magenta. 

Monuments across the country lit up magenta for DonateLife Week. 
Increasing brand awareness 

We use a YouGov pulse survey to test our brand awareness with the Australian community. 

This year, we conducted an awareness survey before and after DonateLife Week. This gave us the ability to test whether the campaign was being noticed by the community. 

Post-DonateLife Week:  

  • 30% of Australians say they have seen the DonateLife logo before when prompted (up from 28% pre-DonateLife Week)  
  • 32% of Australians say they have heard of DonateLife previously (up from 27% pre-DonateLife Week)  
  • 30% of Australians say they have seen media or advertising about organ and tissue donation in the past 2 months. 
  • Gen Z (38%) and Millennials (36%) are more likely to have seen media or advertising about organ and tissue donation compared to Gen X (23%) and Baby Boomers (24%).  

When asked where people recall seeing advertising about organ and tissue donation in the past 2 months, the top answers were:  

  • TV advertising (48%)  
  • Facebook and Instagram advertising (27%)  
  • Medical waiting room advertising (22%)  
  • Internet advertising (22%)  
  • Radio advertising or radio news reads (18%

By the numbers: 

  • 55 case studies engaged as spokespeople 
  • 91 stories pitched to individual media outlets, with 83 stories running 
  • 3,494 broadcast minutes of coverage (radio and TV) 
  • 325,289 written words in the media 
  • $7.9 million advertising value equivalent. 

Despite DonateLife Week falling within the same timeframe as the 2024 Olympic Games, our media and PR results were excellent.  

We focused on sharing powerful donation stories and compelling messages via media, advertising, organic social media and media partnerships. This prompted supportive Australians from awareness into action, in the lead up to and during DonateLife Week. 

Some of the major news stories were: 

  • Sunrise, Monday 22 July: SA Police-Commissioner Grant Stevens and wife Emma shared their pain at their son Charlie’s death, and discussed the strength they found in him becoming an organ donor. 
  • ABC Alice Springs & NITV, Friday 2 August: Indigenous Alice Springs health workers helped develop animations about organ donation, an often-taboo topic. 
  • The Project, Sunday 4 August: Three people and families touched by organ donation across Australia share their emotional stories via the anonymous letters they have written and received after donation. 
  • A Current Affair, Sunday 24 August: Victorian dad and kidney disease sufferer Aaron Alsop shared his harrowing story of having a 4kg kidney removed, and how a kidney from a deceased donor saved his life. 
  • ABC News Breakfast, Sunday 24 August: Victorian doctor Melissa Garwood got married, lost her husband to cancer and had a baby – all in 6 months. She discussed how husband Lynden consented to eye donation before his death. 
  • Mamamia’s The Quicky, Monday 29 July: Former South Sydney Rabbitohs player Chris Enahoro discussed how life changing his recent kidney transplant has been for both him and his young family. 
  • Woman’s Day, Monday 5 August: Briana Harvey and identical twin Alissa shared their story of recently receiving liver transplants – less than a year apart. 
  • SBS, Sunday 28 July: Victorian Dad Mohamad shared his pain at wife Arghavan’s death, just weeks after starting her dream career as a model. He takes solace in her becoming an organ donor. 
  • Perth Now, Friday 19 July: When son Tom needed a new kidney, both his parents were compatible donors. They flipped a coin to decide who would be his kidney donor, with mum Lucy providing the transplant he desperately needed. 
  • WIN News & New Idea, Friday 19 July: When adventurer Stephen Jackson died in a Canberra car crash, fiancée Jenn knew he wanted to become an organ donor. 

    A promotional image for a news story on The Project, with images of a young man, 2 women reading letters, and a baby, with the text ‘Letters changing the lives of donor families’ on the image.

The Project ran a story for DLW featuring 3 donor families and transplant recipients. 

Paid media   

For the first time, we advertised on TikTok, Reddit and Snapchat during DonateLife Week. We mostly used these channels to raise awareness with youth. 

  • TikTok – 454,559 reach 
  • Snapchat – 489,232 reach 
  • Reddit – 663,084 reach. 

By the numbers 

  • 52,503 new registrations on the AODR during June, July and August 2024. 
  • 1% increase on 2023 
  • 37% increase on the 3 months prior to the campaign 
  • During July and August, data also shows that the ‘you’re already registered’ message on the DonateLife registration form was shown 34,660 times. 

There were 52,503 new registrations on the Australian Organ Donor Register (AODR) during the campaign period (June – August). This is a 1% increase on 2023 registrations and a 37% increase on registrations in the 3 months prior to DonateLife Week. 

State/TerritoryRegistrations (June - August 2024)Difference to 2023
ACT1,058-11%
NSW12,706-10%
NT298-24%
QLD10,923+4%
SA11,813+45%
TAS1,180+5%
VIC10,610-10%
WA3,915-15%
Total52,503+1%

By the numbers: 

  • 388,729 website views during the campaign period (10% increase from 2023)  
  • 182,003 new users during the campaign period (17% increase from 2023)  
  • 174,707 views on the ‘join the register page’ – the most viewed page overall (27% increase from 202)   
  • 5,202 resources downloaded from the DonateLife website. 

Social media highlights: 

  • 2,006 new followers across social media channels 
  • 3.5 million impressions on social media 
  • 2.4 million people reached on Facebook and Instagram 
  • 558 posts and stories shared 
  • 843,779 people reached through collaboration posts 
  • 7.35% average engagement rate (industry standard is 1.46%). 

Talent-led: 

  • Western Bulldogs junior mascot, heart recipient Willo  
  • Melbourne Storm Match Day, with lung recipient Mason  
  • News Corp sponsored content with tissue recipient Stephanie Browitt. 

Community Awareness Grant events:  

  • Rejoice Chinese Christian Communications Centre – Chinese booklet launch and luncheon event in Victoria., 
  • ‘The Oz Transplants’ concert – a free concert in Victoria featuring a band of transplant recipients.       
  • African Women’s and Families Network – an event that raised awareness of organ and tissue donation with African communities in Victoria. 
  • Greek Welfare Centre of SA – a workshop for senior members of the Greek community in South Australia, featuring DonateLife guest speakers and a Greek liver and kidney recipient.    
A young boy in Western Bulldogs uniform runs onto a field holding a football. Three women of Asian background wearing DonateLife shirts hold booklets written in Chinese.
Heart recipient Willo runs out on the field with the Western Bulldogs during DonateLife Week. 
 The ‘Grace to Others’ booklet developed by our community partner, Rejoice Chinese Christian Communication Centre.  

DonateLife Week: State and Territory activities

DonateLife ACT launched DonateLife Week with an intimate, invite-only morning tea at the Canberra Hospital. Attendees enjoyed the event and shared their positive feedback with us. It was a great opportunity to bring supporters of DonateLife together to share the important work of DonateLife. 

Throughout the week, the following events and activities also took place: 

  • Canberra Raiders DonateLife Week home game activation 
  • Netball ACT’s state league semi-finals DonateLife week round 
  • North Canberra Hospital ICU’s morning tea and information stall 
  • Synergy DonateLife Week cycling challenge 
  • Renal team information stall 
  • Canberra Multicultural Services (FM 91.1) information stall. 
A group of people standing in front of a stall, which has the green Canberra Raiders logo on it and magenta DonateLife banners. Standing with the group are 2 people dressed as Canberra Raiders Viking mascots. Five people sitting in a radio booth, sound board equipment and headphones on the table in the middle
DonateLife ACT team members at the stall outside the stadium for the Canberra Raiders DonateLife round. 
DonateLife team members and volunteers spoke to FM 91.1 during DonateLife Week. 

DonateLife NSW’s launch event for DonateLife Week was an event in partnership with Leaping Livers. The event brought together partners, media, and the community to raise awareness about organ and tissue donation. Attendees enjoyed the event and gave lots of positive feedback. 

Throughout the week, the following events and activities also took place:  

  • Ruby’s Day Rugby League tournament in Newcastle 
  • hospital events run by donation specialist nurses 
  • a press conference held by the NSW Health Minister. 
A group of attendees at the Leaping Livers event for DonateLife Week stroll down a path, pushing a baby stroller among them. Hon. Ryan Park MP and two others at a podium during the DonateLife Week press conference at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
Attendees at DonateLife NSW’s Leaping Livers DonateLife Week launch event. 
The Hon. Ryan Park MP, NSW Minister for Health and Minister for Regional Health, speaks at the DonateLife Week press conference at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. 

DonateLife NT launched DonateLife Week with the premiere of the Giving Life animation. Aboriginal Liaison Officers from Alice Springs Hospital designed, wrote and narrated the animation. The launch was held at Akeyulerre Healing Centre in Alice Springs, with National Indigenous Television (NITV) attending to film and run a news story. It was an excellent event that involved local health stakeholders. It received good coverage and promotion in local media, NT Health broadcasts, and on social media. The animation is available in 3 Indigenous languages on YouTube

Throughout the week, the following events and activities also took place: 

  • Football NT DonateLife round 
  • information stalls outside Boating Camping and Fishing, Freds Pass Rural Markets, Royal Darwin Hospital and Alice Springs Hospital 
  • quiz nights in Darwin and Alice Springs with special DonateLife Week rounds. 
A large group of people stand in front of a screen with an animation playing on it, smiling for a group photo. Five nurses pose for a photo together, wearing magenta DonateLife beanies and socks, and holding a DonateLife heart emblem.
Attendees at the launch of the Giving Life animation. 
 Alice Springs Hospital ICU staff celebrating DonateLife Week.  

DonateLife QLD launched DonateLife Week with the Walk to DonateLife – a fun day for staff, family and supporters. Attendees enjoyed a 2km walk around the Roma St Parkland, a scavenger hunt for all ages along the walk, and a free sausage sizzle and coffee van. Nova 106.9 FM ran live crosses and games, interactive and competitive games for teams, and prizes for best dressed and best energy. It was fantastic to see the turn out of supporters and media, and to bring everyone together to share and celebrate how organ and tissue donation has touched them. 

Throughout the week, the following events and activities also took place: 

  • park runs in Bundaberg and Cairns 
  • Jetty2Jetty Redcliff Donate for Dave team running event 
  • stalls at the Mt Gravatt Show and Mango Hill Plaza. 
A blonde woman speaks into a microphone, a magenta DonateLife banner in the background. Five people pose for a photo; 2 of them are dressed up as organs. One is wearing an anatomical heart costume, and one is wearing a kidney costume. A group photo of nurses wearing a variety of pink and magenta scrubs, holding a plate of magenta decorated cupcakes and the DonateLife heart emblem.
Shannon Fentiman MP speaks at DonateLife QLD’s Walk to DonateLife launch event. 
Supporters dressed up to celebrate the DonateLife QLD Walk to DonateLife launch event. 
Queensland Central Hospital staff celebrated DonateLife week with cupcakes and other goodies.

DonateLife SA’s launch was a Step Up to Save Lives walking event. The event was a great success, with over 300 people attending. South Australia’s police commissioner Grant Stevens advocated for organ and tissue donation in a series of TV and radio interviews in the lead up to this event. Grant and his wife, family and friends also attended. 

Throughout the week, the following events and activities also took place: 

  • University of Adelaide’s MidWinter BBQ 
  • ‘Change a Life!’ health and awareness workshop at the Greek Welfare Centre targeting senior members of the Greek community 
  • information stall at the Nuriootpa Shopping Centre 
  • hospital activations across the state. 
People holding a magenta DonateLife banner smile for the camera as they walk for the Step Up to Save Lives launch. A group of people stand together for a photo at the DonateLife stall at the Step Up to Save Lives launch.
Supporters walking for the cause at the DonateLife SA Step Up to Save Lives launch.
Volunteers and DonateLife SA staff at the Step Up to Save Lives launch stall. 

DonateLife TAS launched DonateLife Week with a media doorstop, which is when speakers address the media at a public place, answer questions and give the opportunity for interviews. This engaged the media and led to coverage of DonateLife Week both on launch day, and throughout the week. Transplant recipient Brendan Ross Hunter spoke at the event alongside State Medical Director Andrew Turner, and the result was some excellent coverage across nightly news bulletins. 

Throughout the week, the following events and activities also took place:  

  • Hospital activations at the Royal Hobart Hospital, Launceston General Hospital, Mersey Community Hospital and North West Regional Hospital. 
A man in a suit stands in front of a DonateLife branded banner, with reporters and a TV camera recording him as he speaks. A woman holding the DonateLife heart emblem stands with a man in front of a government building lit up magenta.
State Medical Director of DonateLife Tasmania, Dr Andrew Turner, speaks to gathered media at the launch of DonateLife Week. 
Donor family member Michele and Launceston Mayor Matthew Garwood stepped out to see the magenta lights in honour of DonateLife Week. 

DonateLife VIC launched DonateLife Week with a free public concert headlined by The Oz Transplants, one of our community partners. The sold-out concert featured a variety of musicians from various backgrounds, with The Oz Transplants taking centre stage as a band made up of living donors and transplant recipients. The event received great media support, with strong coverage across radio stations. The event was a great celebration and the attendance was outstanding. 

Throughout the week, the following events and activities also took place:  

  • African Women’s and Families Network event (community partner) 
  • Rejoice Chinese Christian Communication Centre event (community partner) 
  • Sunbury Lions Football Club event. 
A woman in a black leather outfit sings on stage. She is joined by other singers and musicians playing electric guitars and drums. A woman in a magenta beanie and black DonateLife shirt stands behind a table with promotional merchandise.
The Oz Transplants raised the roof for organ and tissue donation. 
Phoebe from DonateLife Vic at the DonateLife stand at The Oz Transplants’ concert. 

DonateLife WA’s launch event was a Gift of Life walk, which was extremely successful despite the pouring rain. Over 200 attendees showed up for the 5km walk around Lake Monger. 

In addition to the launch event, DonateLife WA ran a ‘writing to your donor’ workshop with Transplant Australia WA during the week, which was very successful. The team is looking to repeat this workshop for future DonateLife Weeks, and throughout the year. 

A group of people and a golden retriever, dressed in Gift of Life shirts and hats. A family post for a photo on the walking track during the Gift of Life Walk.
Supporters and volunteers (plus a special canine friend) at the DonateLife WA Gift of Life Walk. 
People of all ages turned out for the DonateLife WA Gift of Life Walk, despite the rain!

The network shared case studies in national media in the lead-up to, during and following DonateLife week. In addition to national media, the DonateLife communications teams in each state and territory worked to place local news stories throughout DonateLife Week. 

ACT 

  • Donor family member Jennifer Arnold, wife of liver and kidney donor Stephen Jackson (WIN News
  • Liver recipient Heather Aspinall (Her Canberra
  • Local: coverage across ABC Radio, ABC TV, WIN news, and the Canberra Times 

NSW 

NT 

  • Coverage across ABC Darwin, NITV, and the NT News 

QLD 

  • Liver recipient Nick DeBonis (The Daily Aus newsletter
  • Kidney transplant waitlist patient Seleen McAlister (Perth Now) 
  • Heart transplant recipient Paul Wootton (Sky News) 
  • Living kidney donor and kidney recipient Paul Coxhead and Michael Witham (Herald Sun
  • Coverage across ABC 612 Radio, Sunshine Coast Daily, Channel 7, ABC Sunshine Coast, and Star FM 

SA 

  • Donor family Oren & Gill Klemich (The Project
  • Mia, mother of liver recipient Thea (The Project
  • Living kidney donor and kidney recipient Ian Padget and Mark Rogers (The Daily Telegraph
  • Organ donor Destiny and donor family Belinda Webster (The Post SA
  • Kidney and liver recipient Dimitri Sikinos (Channel 10 News, ABC Radio National) 
  • Coverage across ABC Riverland, The Barossa Leader, 5AA, The Advertiser and ABC Radio Adelaide 

TAS 

  • Coverage in outlets such as The Mercury, The Examiner, The Advocate, WIN TV, Channel 7, ABC Radio Northern Tasmania, and ABC Radio Hobart 

VIC 

  • Donor family member Mohammad Rezaee (SBS News
  • Double-lung recipient Murray Brown (2GB) 
  • Donor family member Dr Melissa Garwood (ABC News Breakfast
  • Skin recipient Kate Sanderson (96fm
  • Coverage across A Current Affair, 10 News, the Geelong Advertiser, Senior magazine, the Weekly Advertiser, Ballarat Courier, and Triple R 

WA 

  • Living kidney donor, kidney recipient and donor and recipient family Tom, Lucy and Andrew Sproul (Perth Now, ABC Radio Perth) 
  • Coverage across Channel 7, Esperance Weekender, 6PR, ABC Radio Perth and the West Australian 

DonateLife agencies worked with a variety of organisations to promote DonateLife Week across the country this year, by hosting events, sharing social media or sharing stories. These included: 

  • ACT Policing 
  • Zango 
  • Transport Canberra 
  • the National Capital Authority 
  • Canberra Health Services 
  • NSW Health 
  • Services NSW 
  • Sydney Children’s Hospital 
  • NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service 
  • Westpac Helicopter 
  • NT Health 
  • Go Transit 
  • Greek Welfare Centre 
  • The Royal Automobile Association of South Australia 
  • Central Adelaide Local Health Network 
  • Coober Pedy Council 
  • QLD Ambulance Service 
  • QLD Transport and Main Roads Department 
  • Tasmanian Health Minister the Hon. Guy Barnett 
  • City of Launceston Council 
  • Central Coast Council Ulverstone 
  • Sikh temple Gurdwara Sahib Siri Guru Nanak Darbar 
  • Red Cross Lifeblood. 

Do you have news or feedback to share?

We’d love to hear your feedback about the DonateLife Network Update. Please let us know your thoughts and what content you would find useful for future editions by emailing the OTA communications team: communications@donatelife.gov.au. 

If you have an update to share, contact your state or territory communications rep or email the OTA communications team: communications@donatelife.gov.au. 

These updates are distributed to DonateLife staff across Australia, via the contact details within the DonateLife Learning Site. To update this distribution list, please speak to the education coordinator in your jurisdiction. We thank you for not sharing this update with anyone outside of the network.