Data released on Sunday to mark the start of DonateLife Week (Sunday, 27 July - Sunday, 3 August) reveals how many Victorian residents in each LGA have registered as organ donors and how often families say yes to donation in the hospital.
With around 1800 Australians on the waitlist for an organ transplant, DonateLife is calling on Victorian residents to take one minute this week to register as organ and tissue donors and to let your family know you want to be a donor.
New donation data for Victoria shows regional Victoria is leading the way in both the consent rate for organ and tissue donation, and the number of people registered on the Australian Organ Donor Register (based on the percentage of eligible population).
However, Wangaratta saw an eight per cent decline in new organ donor registrations from 2023 to 2024, with 163 new registrations recorded in 2024, down from the 178 the previous year.
The total number of Wangaratta residents on the Australian Organ Donor Register is 8420, 39 per cent of the eligible population which is inline with the national average and slightly above the Victorian average of 23 per cent.
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Wangaratta also has a consent rate of 69 per cent for organ and tissue donation.
DonateLife Victoria state medical director Dr Rohit D’Costa said "we acknowledge and thank all of the families who have consented to organ and tissue donation".
"Through their generosity, countless lives have been transformed,” he said.
While four in five Australians support organ and tissue donation, only around one in three are registered to be a donor on the Australian Organ Donor Register.
“Though consent rates and registration rates are higher in regional Victoria, registration rates in Victoria overall are still not where we would like them to be,” Dr D’Costa said.
“Victoria still has one of the lowest registration rates in the country at 23 per cent, compared to a national rate of 36 per cent.
“Incredibly, one organ donor can save the lives of up to seven people and change the lives of many more through eye and tissue donation.
"This DonateLife Week, I’m urging everyone in Victoria to please register as an organ and tissue donor.
"Then, talk to your family – let them know you want to be a donor – because someone's life could depend on it."
It only takes one minute to register as an organ and tissue donor at donatelife.gov.au or through your Medicare account.
