Transplants are highly successful medical procedures that lead to astounding improvements in the quality and longevity of a person’s life.

For transplants to occur they require the generous donation of organs either after death or in some circumstances they can be donated by living donors.

Why is it that in Australia we have only around 200 deceased donors each year - one of the lowest donor rates in the developed world?

Are you confused about the transplant process? You can help solve the crisis by talking with your family ARMED WITH ALL THE FACTS.

• FACT: Transplant operations are no longer medical miracles. Transplants are now highly successful, cost-effective treatments with success rates of greater than 90%.
   
• FACT: Australia's transplant rate is well below many other developed counties. We are only half as likely to receive a transplant as citizens of many other western countries such as Austria, Belgium, France, Spain and the USA.
   
• FACT: Right now, there is no certainty you, or your family will receive a transplant if you need one.
   
• FACT: Ticking the organ registration box only indicates your willingness to donate organs or tissues. The decision to donate rests with the family or next of kin, so discuss your choices & wishes with them. Your organs or tissues WILL NOT be donated unless your next of kin consents.
   
• FACT: Adding almost 1 million registered donors over the last 4 years has not changed our donor rate - it's actually gone backwards. That doesn't mean Australians shouldn't tick the box - it just means it is far more important for to inform your family of your choice and last wishes.
   
• FACT: Generally organs may be donated when a person has been declared brain dead in an Intensive Care Unit. Brain death, when blood circulation to the brain ceases and the brain stops functioning and dies, is quite different from a coma where there is still brain function - you cannot recover from brain death. Medical tests can clearly distinguish between brain death and coma. Two senior doctors using these clinical tests independently assess whether a person is brain dead.
   
• FACT: Doctors caring for you in the Intensive Care Unit are only concerned with the wellbeing of you and your family members. They work completely separately from the doctors responsible for transplants and will not “hurry” your death.
   
• FACT: The donation of organs and tissue does not alter the physical appearance of the body. A donor's body is treated as carefully and respectfully as if the donor were still alive. The body is not 'mutilated'.
   
• FACT: Don't assume you can't donate because of your age or health. The doctors will assess this at the time.
   
• FACT: All major religions support organ donation. It is fully encouraged as it saves lives.
   
• FACT: Organs are not wasted. Every healthy organ is used to save a life.
   
• FACT: There is no debate over what works - best practice has been established by ShareLife's experts. Australia must adopt a world's best-practice national transplant system to save more lives.
   
• FACT: AUSTRALIANS ARE DYING NEEDLESLY WAITING FOR A TRANSPLANT - WE MUST ACT NOW