The issue:

Australians want to help, but people are suffering and dying needlessly waiting for a transplant. This is a national scandal.

How can this be happening?

In an advanced country that prides itself on its generosity and mateship, how can it be that Australians are only half as likely as the citizens of Europe and USA to have their lives saved by a transplant?

Our existing organ procurement systems are complex and fragmented with more than 27 national and 40 state organisations involved.

Although there is already considerable funding, lots of hard-working, well intentioned people and many initiatives underway, these organisations operate in isolation, their focus is misdirected, and they therefore cannot truly deliver the results we need.

Our systems lack integration, coordination and direction.

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The issue:

Our systems are failing us

There is also the very human element to organ donation. People are dying and families are grieving. Doctors are often in the uncomfortable position of telling families that their loved one is unlikely to recover from a brain injury and at the same time asking the families whether they want to donate their loved ones organs.

There is the added issue that families often don’t know whether their loved one wanted to donate and the donor register is not always accessed. Under these distressing circumstances families more often say no to organ donation.

What does this mean to Australians?

Only around 700 people receive a transplant from a deceased donor each year, which means many people with organ failure have been denied the opportunity to benefit from this life-saving therapy.

They simply suffer and die waiting.

Why should you care?

Right now, you or your family, are unlikely to receive a transplant if you need one.

Spaniards suffering from organ failure are twice as likely to receive a transplant when they need one than we are.

Transplants deliver very strong health and economic benefits – as our population ages and as our lifestyles change, the demand for organ transplants will continue to increase and access to this life-changing therapy will become increasingly relevant to us all.

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The issue:

We can do better. No Australian should die needlessly.

Australia needs a new approach.

To translate world's best practice into the Australian context, we need to make six key changes to the way we currently manage organ donation:

1. Establish one national organisation to be the central point for all organ/tissue donor and transplant processes
2. Within each Intensive Care Unit we need to appoint a specialist donor-coordinating doctor who can advise medical staff and be the primary point of contact for donor families
3. Hospitals need to be reimbursed for the costs associated with donor management
4. The donor specialist also needs to ensure there is a focus on training and donor / transplant awareness within hospitals as well as a world class program of continuous improvement with the Intensive Care Unit and throughout the whole hospital
5. The national organisation needs to create clear and consistent education and awareness programs to ensure Australians are making informed decisions on transplants, and
6. We need to resource and manage ongoing care programs for donor families and transplant recipients.

"Government support for the right structure will see rapid implementation of the new approach. We'll have more donors and therefore more transplants – saving more lives. We need to turn the trend around quickly and effectively, and measure success by the number of transplants performed", Associate Professor Allan Glanville, of St Vincents Hospital said.

We all have a part to play.

ShareLife Australia is asking the entire community to commit to solving this issue:

By asking federal politicians to commit to:

• Establishing a national transplant centre responsible for all organ and tissue transplants
• Linking improved transplant rates in each of the States and Territories to the Australian Health Care Agreement

By asking State and Territory Governments to commit to:

• Supporting the new national approach to increase transplant rates
• Agreeing to the changes to the Australian Health Care Agreement
• Establishing standardised costs for donation procurement procedures

By asking hospital administrators to commit to:

• Supporting the new national approach
• To appoint dedicated medical specialists in-hospital responsible for organ donation

By asking religious and community leaders to commit to:

• Support the work of ShareLife Australia and save lives

We want to fully engage the entire community in solving this issue.

Over the coming months expect to hear a whole lot more from ShareLife Australia about the part each of us can play in saving more lives.