There are currently over 104,000 people on the national transplant waiting list. Like America, the list is diverse—it includes people of every age, ethnicity, and gender. You can learn more about the numbers and see specific statistical breakdowns with Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network National Data.
More than 100,000 people are waiting for lifesaving organ transplants. Even the largest football stadium in the US could not fit the number of patients on the national transplant waiting list.
For around 1,800 Australians on the waitlist for an organ transplant, it can be a matter of life and death. A further 14,000 people are on dialysis, some who may benefit from a kidney transplant. Registering and telling your family that you want to be an organ and tissue donor is easy.
The Australian Government is committed to increasing Australia's organ and tissue transplantation rates. We are looking at ways to improve the organ donation, retrieval and transplantation system to help save and improve the lives of more Australians.
In 2021, 421 deceased organ donors and 203 living donors gave 1,174 Australians a new chance in life. The majority of Australians are generally willing to become organ (76%) and tissue (76%) donors. Less than 1% of people die in hospital in the specific circumstances where organ donation is possible.
The size of the problem
However, Australia's donation and transplantation rates dropped in 2020 due to the emergence of COVID-19. In 2020, there were 1,270 organ transplant recipients from 463 deceased organ donors. Right now, more than 1,600 people are waiting for a life-saving transplant.
According to ShareLife, in 2017 Australia was ranked 16th in the world for organ donation rates, at 20.8 donors per million of population (DPMP). If Australia matched the top-ranked nation, Spain, with a DPMP of 47, an additional 1700 Australians could receive a transplant each year.
Who can donate organs and tissue? Almost everyone can donate organs and tissue. While age and medical history will be considered, don't assume you are too young, old or unhealthy to become a donor. You need to be aged 18 years or over to legally record your consent on the Australian Organ Donor Register.
The most common reasons cited for not wanting to donate organs were mistrust (of doctors, hospitals, and the organ allocation system), a belief in a black market for organs in the United States, and deservingness issues (that one's organs would go to someone who brought on his or her own illness, or who could be a "bad ...
A living donor may be trafficked into, from or within Australia. For example: A person from overseas may be trafficked into Australia to be a living donor if an Australian recipient has been unable to find a donor domestically.
In Australia, families are asked to consent to organ and tissue donation, even if a person has registered their decision to be a donor. When you die your senior available next of kin may be asked if they consent to donate your organs and tissues for transplantation.
In 2015, kidneys were the organ most frequently transplanted from deceased donors (718), followed by lungs (375) (AOTDTA 2016). In 2014, there were 267 living donor kidney transplants (ANZDATA 2016). Note: One intestinal transplant is not included.
Organ donation process
There are around 1,800 Australians waitlisted for a transplant and around 14,000 additional people on dialysis – some of whom may need a kidney transplant.
Once you are added to the national organ transplant waiting list, you may receive an organ fairly quickly or you may wait many years. In general, the average time frame for waiting can be 3-5 years at most centers and even longer in some geographical regions of the country.
Myth: I'm not healthy enough to donate because of my lifestyle choices. Fact: If you smoke, drink or have an unhealthy diet you can still register to be a donor. You don't have to be in perfect health. There's every chance that some of your organs and tissues may be suitable for donation.
The kidney is the most commonly transplanted organ.
The Amish are reluctant however to donate their organs if transplant outcomes are uncertain. The offering of life to and for others reflects the Christian principle of interdependence within the human community.
The biggest-ticket organ you can legally sell in the U.S. is your heart: They're going for a cool $1 million. Livers come in second, worth about $557,000 and kidneys fetch about $262,000 each.
Lungs are the most difficult organ to transplant because they are highly susceptible to infections in the late stages of the donor's life. They can sustain damage during the process of recovering them from the donor or collapse after surgeons begin to ventilate them after transplant.
Kidneys: Kidneys are the most needed and most commonly transplanted organ. Kidneys are responsible for filtering waste and excess water from the blood and balancing the body's fluids.
Organs that can be donated by living donors
Kidneys are the organs most frequently needed, followed by livers. Both of these organs can be donated by living donors to save someone's life. 85% of people awaiting a transplant need a kidney. A kidney is the most commonly donated organ.
People aged 16 or 17 years old can still register their intent to donate on the Australian Organ Donor Register. People aged less than 18 years can become organ and tissue donors, although consent will need to be obtained from a family member at the time of death.