Australia’s barriers and misconceptions about organ transplants and donation revealed

A lack of knowledge about how many people need an organ transplant and fear of thinking about death has called for more awareness into how organ donation could be saving more lives.

Australians’ lack of knowledge about how many people need an organ transplant and fear of thinking about death has brought calls for more public awareness into how organ donation could be saving more lives.

New results from the YouGov pulse survey revealed that just 17 per cent of Aussies knew there are between 1001-2000 people on the waitlist. The actual number is 1895.

An additional 14,000 people are also on dialysis, many of whom could benefit from a transplant.

“There are far more Australians who would need an organ and would benefit from a donated organ that will never get one. So, we just need all of the potential donors we can get,” kidney transplant physician Steve Chadban said.

And one thing experts emphasised is that getting on the waitlist is just the beginning of a difficult process.

Very few Aussies understood how many Aussies are on the waitlist, or how many transplants are being done each year. Picture: DonateLife

“It’s a really daunting scary prospect, the uncertainty makes it really difficult. Every time (a patient) comes to see us for a review, they tell me they’re petrified that I’m going to find something wrong that takes them off the wait list,” Dr Chadban said.

And when it comes to the average time it takes to get a transplant, just 12 per cent of Aussies surveyed knew it is a three-to-four-year wait time to receive a kidney.

Despite increased wait times, there have been improvements in speed of suitable organ diagnosis and the success of surgeries thanks to OrganMatch — a clinical transplant system that facilitates the allocation of kidneys across the country to people who were previously harder to match.

The organs that Australians are waiting for as of June 1, 2025.

The program, which has run in Australia since 2019 helps manage the national waitlist, while also running a paired kidney exchange program and facilitating living donor organ transplants.

National Medical Director Associate Professor Helen Opdam urged the public to find out more about organ donation, which ‘takes just a minute’ by visiting the DonateLife website.

“If you could save someone’s life in front of you, you would, wouldn’t you? It’s worth finding out more about it,” Dr Opdam said.
“Think about what a difference you could make to other people, and think whether you would want a chance to receive a transplant.”

Another major hurdle in the organ donation process is families not knowing the wishes of their loved one and not agreeing to donating their organs.

While it is a tough conversation to have, knowing your family’s wishes can go a long way to helping save the lives of others. Picture: DonateLife

In 2024, around 1,630 people (of the 89,000 people who died in Australian hospitals) died in a way where organ donation could be considered. However of these, just 767 families gave consent to donation, or 53 per cent.

“There’s no doubt that people don’t want to potentially talk about their end of life or death ... even though we know they support donation, its just something they don’t want to talk about,” Organ and Tissue Authority chief executive Lucinda Barry said.

“We urge people to have more chats with their families about it. If everyone talked about it, our consent rate would lift.”

Source: DonateLife

The YouGov survey, which studied more than 1000 adult Australians, also revealed that only six per cent of people could identify all the organise and tissues that could be donated, which also revealed one person’s donated organs can save up to seven lives.

Take a minute to register as a donor at donatelife.gov.au

Originally published as Australia’s barriers and misconceptions about organ transplants and donation revealed