Media event date:
July 3, 2022
Date published:
July 4, 2022
Type of support:
Press release
Spectators:
General public
The Australian Government today launched its Great Registration Race for DonateLife Week campaign to encourage an additional 100,000 Australians to register as organ and tissue donors.
The campaign runs throughout July and August with a big boost during DonateLife Week: Sunday July 24 to Sunday July 31.
With approximately 1,750 people on the organ transplant waiting list, more can be done to encourage our friends, family and colleagues to register as donors. There are also an additional 13,000 Australians on dialysis, many of whom could benefit from kidney transplants. A single organ donor can save up to 7 lives.
And while 4 in 5 Australians say they support organ donation, only one in three people are registered as organ and tissue donors. That leaves 13 million Australians aged 16 and over who are eligible to register but have not.
Launching the Great Registration Race for DonateLife Week campaign today, the Deputy Minister of Health and Aged Care, Hon. MP Ged Kearney said sport was a clear way to connect with Australians who might not otherwise be able to register as organ and tissue donors.
Official DonateLife partners AFL Western Bulldogs and NRL team Melbourne Storm helped kick off the campaign today by meeting little Chloe Loo-Tandiyono, 5, who underwent a liver transplant in Melbourne while that she was a baby.
This month, players from both teams will feature in new digital adverts and appear throughout the campaign on a show in support of the thousands of Australians whose lives depend on receiving an organ donation, and to the many others whose lives would be transformed through tissue donation.
Former Brisbane Broncos star Sam Thaiday is also using his sports profile to raise awareness. As part of the campaign launch this week, he’s releasing a new six-part podcast series “A Gift Worth Giving,” supported by a DonateLife Community Outreach Grant.
It only takes a minute to register on donatelife.gov.au or just 3 taps in your Express Plus Medicare app.
Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister Kearney
“I am delighted to launch the big registration race for DonateLife week. Organ and tissue donation is a cause close to my heart. As a nurse, I have seen firsthand the life-saving benefits organ donation brings to people like little Chloe.
“We’re a proud, sports-loving nation, and it’s great to see our professional players and teams supporting DonateLife.”
“It’s great to see teams like the Western Bulldogs, Melbourne Storm and sports stars like Sam Thaiday taking part in the big sign-up race for DonateLife Week and I hope all Australians do too.”
Note for media: media kit, b-roll and photos – including Bulldogs & Storm for media use: donatelife.gov.au/donatelifeweek-media
