The Great Registration Race for DonateLife Week is on now to encourage 100,000 more Australians to sign up. One organ donor can save up to 7 lives and help many more through eye and tissue donation.

There are currently about 1,750 seriously ill people on Australia’s organ transplant waitlist hoping for a potentially life saving operation, but Australia does not have enough registered organ and tissue donors to ensure they’ll get the help they need.

There are also an additional 13,000 people on dialysis who may benefit from a kidney transplant. The number of people who received a transplant last year was 7% down on 2020, while the number of Australians who became organ and tissue donors dropped by 9% last year.

Research shows that 4 in 5 Australians support donation, yet there are around 13 million Australians aged 16+ who are eligible to register as organ and tissue donors, but haven’t.

A recent YouGov poll of 1,000 Australians found the key barrier to signing up is that most don’t know how to register.

It only takes one minute to register as an organ and tissue donor at donatelife.gov.au or just 3 taps in your Express Plus Medicare app.

DonateLife Week runs from today, Sunday 24 July, until next Sunday, 31 July with events and activities taking place throughout the country.

Member for Mallee, Dr Anne Webster enouraged Mallee residents to register as organ and tissue donors .

“Talk to friends, family, colleagues and sporting or community group about registering as an organ and tissue donor. It only takes one minute online at donatelife.gov.au or just three taps in your Medicare Express Plus app,” Dr Webster said.

“An organ transplant doesn’t just save lives, it gives families back their mother, father, sibling, or child or grand child. I have experienced first hand the gift of organ donation when my granddaughter received a life saving liver transplant as a young child.”