Donation and transplantation data

• For someone who is seriously ill, an organ or tissue transplant can mean the difference between life and death, being healthy or sick, seeing or being blind, or between being active and never walking again.

• Transplantation enables people to resume an active role in their family, workplace and community.
• One organ donor can save the lives of up to 7 people and help many more through eye and tissue donation.

• The first 10 years (2009 - 2018) of the national program saw a 114% increase in deceased donation, resulting in an 83% increase in people receiving an organ transplant.
• Over 2 years (2020 and 2021), there was a 23% reduction in deceased donation activity due to the impacts of COVID-19 (from 2019).

• Since 2021, there has been continued recovery in organ donation. With the 25% increase in deceased donation from 2021, donor numbers are now only 4% down from pre-pandemic outcomes in 2019.

In 2024, we continued to move towards pre‑pandemic levels of activity, with a 3% increase in the number of people who became organ donors, compared to 2023. Thanks to 527 deceased organ donors and their families, and 253 living donors, there were 1,581 Australians who received a life-changing organ transplant last year.

Additionally, there was a 3% increase in tissue donors compared to 2023. The lives of 8,192 people were enhanced when they received tissue from both living and deceased donors. There were 2,630 people who had their eyesight restored through a corneal transplant in 2024, a 6% increase compared to 2023.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all donors and their families who said yes to donation and granted others a second chance at life.

Despite organ donation rates increasing since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, Australia’s consent rate remains low. In 2024, 53% of families said yes to organ donation in the hospital, a drop from 55% in 2023, and well below the pre-pandemic consent rate of 60%.

Our national program in hospitals saw the highest number of potential donors in 2024. Only 2% of people die in hospital in a way that organ donation can be considered, so increasing the consent rate within this small group of potential donors – around 1,600 in 2024 – is critical for future growth in donation and transplantation.

We know 4 in 5 Australians say they support donation, but only 36% of the population aged over 16 are registered. Registering as a donor and talking to your family about donation has a direct impact on the consent rate. Around 8 in 10 families say yes to donation when their family member is registered. This drops to 4 in 10 families when they don’t know if their family member wanted to be a donor.

For around 1,800 people on the organ transplant waitlist, it can be a matter of life or death. With the continued growth in kidney failure – currently 14,000 people receiving dialysis – we need to increase consent to further increase organ donation.

The OTA Strategy 2022-27 sets the right foundation to increase the consent rate, focused on building support in the community and optimising opportunities for donation in the hospital. Our goal of a national consent rate of 70% would see an extra 400 life-saving organ transplants every year.

Additionally, the National Strategy for Donation, Retrieval and Transplantation was released in November 2024. It builds on key successes of the DonateLife program and outlines a roadmap for Australia to be a world-leader in organ donation, retrieval and transplantation.

Increasing donation and transplantation in Australia remains our key focus. To achieve this, we need the continued commitment and dedication of all involved, including governments, hospitals, the donation and transplant sector and the public. Together, we can make a significant difference to saving and improving the lives of more Australians.

Lucinda Barry AM
Chief Executive Officer
Organ and Tissue Authority

• In 2024, a total of 527 deceased organ donors saved or transformed the lives of 1,328 people who received an organ transplant.
• There was a 3% increase in deceased organ donors in 2024 compared with 2023. This is the highest number of organ donors since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020.

• The number of people who received a transplant decreased, with 1,328 transplant recipients in 2024, 5% less than in 2023.
• Fewer organs from deceased donors were suitable for transplant compared with 2023. Factors that contribute to this include donor age and the donation pathway, both of which can influence the organs suitable for transplantation.

• A person must die in a hospital under specific circumstances, in an ICU or ED, as organs need to be functioning well to be considered for transplantation.
• Only around 2% of people who die in Australian hospitals meet the criteria required to be an organ donor.
• In 2024, around 1,630 people (of the 89,000 people who died in Australian hospitals) died in a way where organ donation could be considered.
• 1,450 families were asked about donation in the hospital.

• Of these, 767 families said yes to donation – representing a national consent rate of 53% – with 527 people becoming organ donors.
• With only a small number of potential donors, increasing consent is critical to increasing our donation rate.
• There are around 1,800 Australians on the waitlist for a transplant and an additional 14,000 people on dialysis – many of whom could benefit from a kidney transplant.

• 2024 transplant activity varied across organ types and by state compared to 2023.
• In 2024, transplant activity increased for kidneys and livers in some states.
• Heart and lung transplants decreased across all states in 2024.

• Victoria reported 282 kidney transplants from deceased donors, the highest since 2018.
• Liver transplants increased in both New South Wales and Queensland, with Queensland having Move these dot points to the top of page 13 after the other 3 dot points.

• There are 2 pathways to deceased donation:
  • donation after neurological determination of death (DNDD), and
  • donation after circulatory determination of death (DCDD).
• Most donors in Australia are from the DNDD pathway. In 2024, 335 deceased organ donors (64%) came from the DNDD pathway, with 192 (36%) from the DCDD pathway.
• The increase in organ donors in 2024 was primarily due to a higher number of DCDD donors. Typically, DCDD results in a lower number of organs medically suitable for transplantation compared with DNDD.

• The national donation target for deceased donation, established in 2009, is 25 donors per million population (dpmp).
• The 527 deceased organ donors in 2024 resulted in a national donation rate of 19.4 dpmp, a slight increase from 2023 (19.3 dpmp).
• In 2024 the transplantation rate was 48.8 transplant recipients per million population (trpmp); a decrease on 2023 (52.3 trpmp).

• In Australia, families of potential donors are always asked to agree to their family member becoming a donor in hospital.
• In 2024, 767 families agreed to donation. This resulted in a national consent rate of 53%, a 2% decrease from 2023 (55%).

• Increasing the number of families who agree and say yes to donation is critical to increasing donation and transplantation rates.
• In 2024, of the 767 people whose families agreed to consent for donation, 527 became donors.. 240 did not proceed to donation, mainly due to medical and logistical reasons.

• There are around 260 donation specialist nurses, doctors and support staff who deliver the DonateLife national program across more than 95 hospitals
  in Australia.
• The donation specialists work with hospital critical care teams to ensure that, when appropriate, the opportunity for organ donation is offered to families.

• Key factors to increasing consent are having donation raised by a donation specialist nurse and providing families with high-quality information and care during the donation process.
• In 2024, 51% of Australian families agreed to donation when they were supported by a donation specialist nurse, compared with only 19% when there was no donation specialist nurse involved.

• In 2024, 82% of families agreed to donation when their family member was registered to donate on the Australian Organ Donor Register (AODR).
• Consent for donation was given in 63% of cases when the family knew if their family member wanted to be a donor.
• Only 38% of families agreed to donation when their family member was not registered, and the family was unaware if they wanted to be a donor.
• While 4 in 5 Australians support organ and tissue donation, only about 1 in 3 (36%) are registered to be a donor on the AODR.

• South Australia has the highest registration rate (74%) of the eligible Australian population (aged 16 or over).
  South Australia is the only state where people can register to be a donor via their driver's license.
• Consideration of organ and tissue donation comes at an intensely emotional time for families, usually associated with the unexpected death of their family member. When donation is possible, it helps when families know if they wanted to be a donor.

• A living organ donor is someone who donates a kidney, or on rare occasions part of their liver, to another person. Receiving an organ from a living donor offers an alternative to the national transplant waitlist for an organ from a deceased donor.
• There were 253 living kidney donors in 2024. This result is consistent with the 2023.
• Living kidney donation and transplantation is most often from a relative or close friend (directed donation).
• For some patients who require a kidney transplant, and have a living donor who is willing but unable to donate directly because of an incompatible blood or tissue type, donation and transplantation is facilitated through the Australian and New Zealand Paired Kidney Exchange (ANZKX) program.
• The 253 living kidney donors in 2024 included 66 through the ANZKX program in Australia, a 20% increase from 2023 (55) and the highest number of living donor transplants since the commencement of the ANZKX program.
• There were no living liver donors in 2024.

Note: The above figures reflect the number of donors in Australia facilitated through the ANZKX program.

• Each year the lives of thousands of Australians are saved and transformed through the transplantation of donated tissues, including eye tissue.
• The tissues that can be transplanted include heart valves and other heart tissue (cardiovascular tissue), bone, tendons and ligaments (musculoskeletal tissue), skin, pancreas islets, and parts of the eye such as the cornea and sclera.
• Unlike organs, many more people can become eye and tissue donors as these can be donated following death outside of hospital, and tissue can be stored.

• Tissue banks across Australia collect tissue from deceased and living donors, process and store these tissues and then distribute them to clinicians for transplantation and other surgical uses.
• Eye and tissue donation activity decreased in 2020 due the impacts of COVID-19, however there has been strong signs of recovery in subsequent years.
• Of the 527 deceased organ donors in 2024, 268 also donated eye and/or other tissue.
• People can donate any combination of organs, eyes and tissue.

• In 2024 there were 1,694 deceased eye donors. This is a 10% increase compared with 2023 (1,546).
• There were 2,630 corneal transplants in 2024, a 6% increase compared with 2023 (2,486).

• Since 2009, more than 33,000 Australians have received a corneal transplant.

• In 2024 there were a total of 3,392 tissue donors, which is a 3% increase compared with 2023 (3,286).

• The number of deceased tissue donors have varied over the past 5 years. There were 311 donors in 2024, 5% lower than 2023 (328).

• The 311 deceased tissue donors in 2024 resulted in 478 tissue donations (some donated multiple tissues). This represents a similar rate of tissue donation compared with 2023 (475).

• There were 182 musculoskeletal, 146 cardiovascular, 148 skin and 2 pancreas islet deceased tissue donations in 2024.

• In 2024 there were 8,192 reported tissue recipients from both living and deceased donors. This is a 17% decrease from 2023 (9,904).

• Tissue recipients included 7,741 of musculoskeletal tissue, 228 of cardiovascular tissue, 171 of amnion tissue, 50 of skin tissue and 2 pancreas islets in 2024.