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Organ, eye and tissue donation saves lives, restores health and improves the quality of life for thousands of Australians each year. But did you know that only 2% of people who die in hospital each year can be considered for organ donation? One organ donor can save the lives of up to 7 people and help many more through eye and tissue donation.
Download the 2023 Donation and Transplantation Activity Report for more detailed data and analysis.
Organ donation process
- Very few people can become an organ donor when they die
- A person must die in a hospital in 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 2023, around 1,500 people (of the 84,000 people who died in Australian hospitals) died in a way where organ donation could be considered
- Requests to families for donation were made in 1,435 cases
- Of this, 793 families said yes to donation in the hospital – representing a national consent rate of 55% – with 513 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 waitlisted for a transplant and around 14,000 additional people on dialysis – many of whom could benefit from a kidney transplant.
Australia’s potential deceased organ donor population and transplantation outcomes
While the majority of Australians support organ and tissue donation, only around one in three (36%) are registered to be a donor.
Since the national program first began in 2009, 18,144 people have received life-saving organ transplants from 6,417 deceased organ donors.
Deceased organ donation and transplant recipients 2000-2023
- The first 10 years of the national program saw a 122% increase in deceased donation rates, resulting in an 81% 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)
- Over the past 2 years (2022 and 2023), there has been continued recovery in the sector. The program is now only 6% down from pre-pandemic outcomes (from 2019).
What can you do to help?
We know that 8 out of 10 families consent for donation when their family member was a registered donor. This drops to only 4 out of 10 families who consent for donation when families don't know they wanted to be a donor.
For Jack's parents, despite their grief, they were able to say yes to donation without hesitation, because they knew what Jack had wanted. Thanks to Jack, the lives of 5 Australians have been transformed.
'Agreeing to organ donation felt like a positive way to carry out her wishes and gave some meaning to her sudden death. Organ donation played and continues to play a vital role in the grieving process.’
Need more information?
Access our data reports from previous years and find out how we use data to increase the rates of donation and transplantation.
Quick downloads:
* From deceased donors
~ Approximately
Data sources:
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. Causes of death, Australia, 2022 (Released 29/09/2023).
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. National, state and territory Population, 30 June 2022 (Released 16/12/2023).
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2021. Admitted patient care 2020–21 (Released 03/06/2023).
- DonateLife Audit, February 2023.
- Deceased organ donation in Australia, Australia and New Zealand Organ Donation Registry, January 2024.
