The Australian & New Zealand Organ Donation Registry has released organ donation and transplantation data for the first half of the year.

We continue to see steady improvement with 168 generous families agreeing to donate their loved one's organs, resulting in 495 people receiving life saving surgery.  The ACT has had four multi organ donors to date while NSW has had 36 donors.

The report to 30 June 2011 is available here.

The Chief Minister and Patron of Gift of Life, Jon Stanhope, has recognised six Canberrans for their outstanding contribution to organ and tissue donation awareness.  The ceremony, organised by Gift of Life with the support of DonateLife and ACT Health, was the last major activity during DonateLife week.

The recipients are:

• Ms Gai Brodtmann, MP, who received the Annette Taylor Award for Community Service
• Ms Genevieve Jacobs was awarded the Angus Fairbairn-Cody Award for Media Support
• Mr Steve Williams was awarded the Matthew Reynolds Award for Community Service
• Ms Karen Oliver received the Ben Wiseman Award for Health Care
• The Belconnen Chapter of the Canberra Lions Club received the Jenny Deck Award for Community Support
• Ms Anne Cahill Lambert was the recipient of a special award for outstanding contribution.

The Organ & Tissue Authority has established a DontateLife Book of Life. Organisations or individuals have lodged stories with the Authority and the final version of the DonateLife Book of Life was launched by the Governor-General during DonateLife week in February 2011.

The book will be updated and if you are interested in nominating someone to appear in the book, the template should be completed and submitted via Gift of Life or via the DonateLife ACT agency or directly to the Authority.     


l-r The Governor General, The Hon. Catherine King, MP and Ms Robyn Gough (photo:  www.gg.gov.au)