This bill became law on Aug 21st, 2023.
Health, care & disability
Australia now lets the Organ and Tissue AuthorityThe national body that runs the donation program and, under this bill, can share certain identifying information when the law allows it. or its chief executiveThe senior officer of the Organ and Tissue Authority who is allowed to disclose information in the ways set out by the bill. share identifying informationDetails that could show who a donor or recipient is, which this bill lets certain people share only for approved awareness, education, promotion, or remembrance activities. about a deceased donor or recipient when an authorised family memberA relative or close family-like person allowed by the Act to give consent for sharing a deceased donor's or recipient's story or details. agrees.
Strict anonymity rules and state and territory privacy laws left donor families, recipients and DonateLifeThe government donation network and its agencies that promote organ and tissue donation and can now take part in approved disclosure and remembrance activities. unable to share identifying stories or commemorate loved ones, even with family consent. The bill expands who can consent and lets the Authority, agencies, grant recipients and families disclose that information nationwide for awareness, education and remembrance.
Australia’s national organ and tissue donation program began in 2009 and lifted transplant activity, but strict anonymity rules and overlapping state and territory privacy laws still stopped donor families, recipients and DonateLifeThe government donation network and its agencies that promote organ and tissue donation and can now take part in approved disclosure and remembrance activities. from publicly sharing identifying stories or commemorating loved ones even with consent. In 2023 the bill responded by letting the Organ and Tissue AuthorityThe national body that runs the donation program and, under this bill, can share certain identifying information when the law allows it., DonateLife agenciesThe government donation network and its agencies that promote organ and tissue donation and can now take part in approved disclosure and remembrance activities., grant recipients and authorised family members disclose identifying informationDetails that could show who a donor or recipient is, which this bill lets certain people share only for approved awareness, education, promotion, or remembrance activities. for awareness, education and remembrance across Australia. It received Royal AssentThe final step that turns a bill into an Act, meaning the new donation disclosure rules become law. in August 2023 and commenced on 21 February 2024.
The main criticism was that the bill may loosen long-standing anonymity rules too quickly, creating privacy risks for transplant recipients or donor families if the consent and disclosure safeguards are not tight enough. These concerns came from coalition and crossbench speakers who still backed the bill in the House, with criticism focused on rushed consultation and the need for closer Senate scrutinyThe Senate and House review of the bill's wording and safeguards, which critics said needed more time before it became law. rather than opposition to the bill's goal.
Hon Ged Kearney MP introduced this bill. It passed on the voices.
Did it become law?
Yes
Became law 21 Aug 2023
Final passage
Passed without a counted vote
Members called out ‘aye’ or ‘no’ — no individual votes were recorded.
Passage speed
89 days
From introduction to the latest recorded parliamentary step
Meaning
Australia now lets the Organ and Tissue AuthorityThe national body that runs the donation program and, under this bill, can share certain identifying information when the law allows it. or its chief executiveThe senior officer of the Organ and Tissue Authority who is allowed to disclose information in the ways set out by the bill. share identifying informationDetails that could show who a donor or recipient is, which this bill lets certain people share only for approved awareness, education, promotion, or remembrance activities. about a deceased donor or recipient when an authorised family memberA relative or close family-like person allowed by the Act to give consent for sharing a deceased donor's or recipient's story or details. agrees.
Australia keeps donor families and transplant recipients anonymous from each other, because the Organ and Tissue AuthorityThe national body that runs the donation program and, under this bill, can share certain identifying information when the law allows it. cannot publish information that would reveal which donor was matched to which recipient.
DonateLife agenciesThe government donation network and its agencies that promote organ and tissue donation and can now take part in approved disclosure and remembrance activities. and CommonwealthFederal Australian law, which this bill uses to override state or territory rules that would otherwise stop the allowed disclosures.-funded grant recipients can now identify a deceased donor or recipient in education, promotion, community awareness, or remembrance activities when an authorised family memberA relative or close family-like person allowed by the Act to give consent for sharing a deceased donor's or recipient's story or details. consents.
Authorised family members can now publicly share identifying informationDetails that could show who a donor or recipient is, which this bill lets certain people share only for approved awareness, education, promotion, or remembrance activities. about a deceased donor or recipient for donation awareness, education, promotion, or remembrance activities.
These new sharing rules override inconsistent State or Territory privacy laws, so the allowed disclosures can happen across Australia.
(b) if the organ or tissue donor or recipient has died but is survived by one or more authorised family members—any of those authorised family members; orAustralian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Amendment (Disclosure of Information) Act 2023 final Act text
(3) Subsection (2) does not permit the publication or dissemination by the Authority or the CEO of information that reveals that an organ and/or tissue was:Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Amendment (Disclosure of Information) Act 2023 final Act text
may publish, disseminate or disclose information that is likely to enable the identification of the deceased organ or tissue donor or the deceased organ or tissue recipient (as the case requires) if:Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Amendment (Disclosure of Information) Act 2023 final Act text
(3) An authorised family member of the deceased organ or tissue donor or recipient may publish, disseminate or disclose information that is likely to enable the identification of the deceased organ or tissue donor or the deceased organ or tissue recipient (as the case requires) if:Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Amendment (Disclosure of Information) Act 2023 final Act text
(4) Subsections (2) and (3) have effect despite anything in a law of a State or Territory.Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Amendment (Disclosure of Information) Act 2023 final Act text
Context
Australia’s national organ and tissue donation program began in 2009 and lifted transplant activity, but strict anonymity rules and overlapping state and territory privacy laws still stopped donor families, recipients and DonateLifeThe government donation network and its agencies that promote organ and tissue donation and can now take part in approved disclosure and remembrance activities. from publicly sharing identifying stories or commemorating loved ones even with consent. In 2023 the bill responded by letting the Organ and Tissue AuthorityThe national body that runs the donation program and, under this bill, can share certain identifying information when the law allows it., DonateLife agenciesThe government donation network and its agencies that promote organ and tissue donation and can now take part in approved disclosure and remembrance activities., grant recipients and authorised family members disclose identifying informationDetails that could show who a donor or recipient is, which this bill lets certain people share only for approved awareness, education, promotion, or remembrance activities. for awareness, education and remembrance across Australia. It received Royal AssentThe final step that turns a bill into an Act, meaning the new donation disclosure rules become law. in August 2023 and commenced on 21 February 2024.
Australia begins a national organ and tissue donation program
The minister said the national program started in 2009 and helped drive significant growth in donation rates, with more than 16,000 Australians receiving transplants since then.
Hansard ↗Government moves to loosen anonymity rules for donor stories
The bill was introduced to let the Authority, DonateLife agenciesThe government donation network and its agencies that promote organ and tissue donation and can now take part in approved disclosure and remembrance activities., grant recipients and authorised family members share identifying informationDetails that could show who a donor or recipient is, which this bill lets certain people share only for approved awareness, education, promotion, or remembrance activities. with consent for awareness, education, promotion and remembrance despite inconsistent state or territory laws.
Hansard ↗House passes the bill
House debate framed the change as a way to help families honour donors publicly and encourage more Australians to consider organ and tissue donation.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Parliament passes the bill
Both houses agreed to the same bill, clearing the way for the new disclosure rules to become law once assented to and commenced.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Bill receives Royal AssentThe final step that turns a bill into an Act, meaning the new donation disclosure rules become law.
Royal AssentThe final step that turns a bill into an Act, meaning the new donation disclosure rules become law. turned the bill into an Act, with commencement still governed by the Act’s Proclamation-or-six-months commencement rule.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Disclosure changes commence
The rectified Federal Register text records 21 February 2024 as the Date/Details entry for commencement of the whole Act.
Federal Register of Legislation ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Second reading agreed to
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Third reading agreed to
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
Referred to Committee (15/06/2023): Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee; Committee report (26/07/2023)
Referred to committee
APH bill page notesThe bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Second reading agreed to
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Third reading agreed to
Both houses passed the bill in the same form, completing parliamentary passage.
Finally passed both Houses
The Governor-General gave Royal AssentThe final step that turns a bill into an Act, meaning the new donation disclosure rules become law., turning the bill into an Act.
Key criticism
The main criticism was that the bill may loosen long-standing anonymity rules too quickly, creating privacy risks for transplant recipients or donor families if the consent and disclosure safeguards are not tight enough. These concerns came from coalition and crossbench speakers who still backed the bill in the House, with criticism focused on rushed consultation and the need for closer Senate scrutinyThe Senate and House review of the bill's wording and safeguards, which critics said needed more time before it became law. rather than opposition to the bill's goal.
No party represented in the debate opposed the bill, but some support was clearly conditional on stronger scrutiny.
Privacy and anonymity risks
Critics warned that expanding who can disclose identifying informationDetails that could show who a donor or recipient is, which this bill lets certain people share only for approved awareness, education, promotion, or remembrance activities. could create problems if the rules are not drafted and administered carefully, especially for recipients whose privacy and separation from donor families are meant to remain protected.
Rushed process and unanswered drafting questions
Some MPs argued the bill was being moved too quickly and that unanswered questions should be tested in the Senate before it became law, suggesting the implementation details and legal safeguards needed more work.
Further sources
Votes
The bill passed both chambers on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage.
House agreed to the bill's third reading on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage in that chamber.
Passed on the voices
In a voice vote, members call out Aye or No and the presiding officer judges which side has it. Individual names are only recorded if a formal division is called.
Senate agreed to the bill's third reading on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage in that chamber.
Passed on the voices
In a voice vote, members call out Aye or No and the presiding officer judges which side has it. Individual names are only recorded if a formal division is called.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Kearney supports the bill and says it will help the Organ and Tissue AuthorityThe national body that runs the donation program and, under this bill, can share certain identifying information when the law allows it. and DonateLife agenciesThe government donation network and its agencies that promote organ and tissue donation and can now take part in approved disclosure and remembrance activities. share donor stories more effectively to lift awareness, registration, and donation outcomes.
Read in Hansard ↗Reynolds says the coalition will support the bill, but argues it was poorly consulted on and still does not give donor families enough control over information about their loved ones.
Read in Hansard ↗McCarthy supports the bill and says it will let the Organ and Tissue AuthorityThe national body that runs the donation program and, under this bill, can share certain identifying information when the law allows it. and DonateLife agenciesThe government donation network and its agencies that promote organ and tissue donation and can now take part in approved disclosure and remembrance activities. share deceased donor information for community awareness, education and commemorative activities.
Read in Hansard ↗Bilyk supports the bill and says it will help families and DonateLifeThe government donation network and its agencies that promote organ and tissue donation and can now take part in approved disclosure and remembrance activities. staff share donor stories more widely by removing state and territory disclosure barriers.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
16 speakers · 17 contributions · 16 support
“This Bill will amend the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Act 2008 to allow the Organ and Tissue Authority, DonateLife agencies, grant recipients and authorised family members to publish, disseminate or disclose information about deceased donors for the purposes of the Organ and Tissue Authority's community awareness, educational or commemorative activities.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill will nationally harmonise the legislative provisions in relation to the disclosure of organs donors' information. The bill allows the OTA and DonateLife staff to obtain consent from an extended list of family members of a deceased donor before including information about the deceased donor in their promotional and educational activities.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“By supporting the bill, we can empower family members to commemorate their loved one's gift of life, share their powerful stories and inspire others to register as donors.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This legislation empowers those families to really take advantage of that legacy, to use that for all of our society's benefit, to tell the story of the donor, to paint for those who may not intimately understand that process what it is like, to deal with it in honest terms on both its challenges and its amazing benefits and also, ultimately, fundamentally, to encourage more families to make that difficult and beautiful decision.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“DonateLife says (1) have donation specialist staff, (2) register on the Australian Organ Donor Register and (3) talk to your loved ones—and that is what this bill is intended to do. It will allow donor families to talk about the experience of their loved one having donated and helped the lives of others. So it's about having specialist staff, registering on the Australian Organ Donor Register and talking to your family about donation—because, as I said, only four in 10 families say yes to donation if they don't know what their loved ones wanted. They're three easy steps.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill does the important and necessary job of harmonising the legislative requirements on disclosure nationally. This will help to create much-needed increased community awareness about donation and registration and assist donor families to tell their powerful stories and commemorate their loved ones in remembrance services.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill seeks to broaden the disclosure of information provisions in the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Act to allow DonateLife agencies, grant recipients and authorised family members to publish, disseminate or disclose information about deceased donors and recipients without breaching the law of a state or territory. The bill maintains important provisions requiring the consent of the family of an organ donor prior to the disclosure of information, and clarifies and extends who is classified as an authorised family member for the purposes of providing this consent.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Hansard records 2 separate contributions by Ged Kearney on this bill. They are grouped here so the speaker is listed once.
Minister's second reading speech
Kearney supports the bill and says it will help the Organ and Tissue AuthorityThe national body that runs the donation program and, under this bill, can share certain identifying information when the law allows it. and DonateLife agenciesThe government donation network and its agencies that promote organ and tissue donation and can now take part in approved disclosure and remembrance activities. share donor stories more effectively to lift awareness, registration, and donation outcomes. She presents it as a practical change that protects anonymity while allowing more families to contribute to education and commemorative activities.
“This important legislative amendment will enable more families, who would not have otherwise been able, to share their extraordinary stories with the Australian community. This is crucial to improving donation outcomes in Australia.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
Second reading speech
Ged Kearney supports the bill because it will let the Organ and Tissue AuthorityThe national body that runs the donation program and, under this bill, can share certain identifying information when the law allows it. and DonateLife agenciesThe government donation network and its agencies that promote organ and tissue donation and can now take part in approved disclosure and remembrance activities. share donor and recipient information, with consent, for community awareness, education and commemorative activities. She says this will better honour donor families and help save lives by improving public understanding of donation and transplantation.
“These changes will allow the Organ and Tissue Authority and DonateLife agencies to obtain consent for this information to be shared from an extended list of family members of donors and recipients.”Read this contribution in Hansard ↗
“The bill is intended to allow authorised family members to give consent to the disclosure of information about an organ and/or tissue donor. This bill will allow the transplant authority and DonateLife staff to obtain consent from family members of a deceased donor before including information about the deceased donor in their promotional or educational activities. If that consent is given by what is deemed an authorised family member as defined in the terms of this bill, a law of a state or territory will not prevent the publication or dissemination of that information by the transplant authority or DonateLife. I will repeat that again. This is going to allow the families of organ donors who've made that brave, generous decision to say yes to organ donation in one of the most difficult times of their lives to tell their stories.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This is something that both sides of politics have worked on consistently over time. As I say, there were changes made under the former Labor government. I'm glad that it was a focus of the coalition before. The minister and the assistant minister are carrying this work forward. I think this change will improve awareness and efficiency within the way the program works. I am hopeful that, through these changes, the way we talk about them and endorse them, we actually get that community participation in something that is life-changing and life-saving. On that basis, I'm very happy to speak in support of the bill.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“What the bill will do is harmonise legislative requirements on disclosure nationally, supporting increased community awareness about donation and registration, and allowing donor families to tell their powerful stories and commemorate their loved ones in remembrance services.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This is why this bill is so important. It will broaden disclosure information provisions in the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Act 2008 to allow DonateLife agencies, grant recipients and authorised family members to publish, distribute or disclose information about deceased donors and/or recipients. Clearly there are some privacy concerns. That's why the bill does have those concerns well catered for. This is the very important work of the Organ and Tissue Authority to get people aware of the great importance of organ donation. We have had members talk about their personal experience with organ donation. I have certainly had patients of mine who have had organ donations and done extremely well, really transforming their lives and the lives of their families.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“These amendments will now allow donor recipients, family members and agencies like DonateLife to boost their public awareness campaigns around organ donation. Consent from families will always be required, meaning that privacy will always be protected. The bill will not facilitate direct contact between donor families and organ and tissue recipients. They can maintain their contact with each other anonymously, if they wish, through DonateLife. By harmonising legislative requirements on disclosure nationally, it will make it easier for families of donors to engage in promotional and educational activities—noting that, in many cases, donors live interstate.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This reform to organ donation is part of our broader strategy to repair and restore our healthcare system, provide universal health care to all Australians and bring our healthcare system into the 21st century. We are making sure that our healthcare system is one that Australians can rely on, that Australians can trust. That is why I'm so pleased to support this bill.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill allows authorised family members to give consent to the disclosure of information about an organ and tissue donor. Around the country, all sorts of different rules make that easier or harder in different places. But this will allow the staff of, for instance, DonateLife or the OTA to obtain consent from an extended list of family members of a deceased donor before including information about the donor in their promotional and educational activities. As someone who has worked with a lot of not-for-profit organisations and who knows that the human face of an issue is one of the most powerful ways to spread the word, I can absolutely see the benefit in this legislation. It makes me wonder why we didn't have it sooner—but I'm delighted we're working through this now.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Amendment (Disclosure of Information) Bill 2023 amends the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Act 2008 to allow the Organ and Tissue Authority, DonateLife agencies, grant recipients and authorised family members to publish, disseminate or disclose information about diseased donors for the purposes of the Organ and Tissue Authority's community awareness, educational or commemorative activities. I also note that the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care has written to the Attorney-General to request a review of organ and tissue donation disclosure laws by the Australian Law Reform Commission. The Senate welcomes the proposed review by the Australian Law Reform Commission and asks that the terms of reference for the review be published as soon as practicable. The Senate notes the role of donor families in providing expertise to the reform of donation disclosure laws. I want to thank senators who've contributed to this debate for their thoughtful and generous comments and indicating their voting intention in relation to the bill, and I commend it to the Senate.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
8 speakers · 7 support · 1 mixed
“For all of those reasons, it pains me to support this bill, but those on this side have chosen to support the bill because the intention is good. But, as Donor Families Australia have asked of us in this chamber: please look at further amendments to the bill, so that donor families can own and control their loved ones' information.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“We will be supporting this legislation but I implore the government and the department to work with Donor Families Australia, the donor family community, the recipients and the families of donors, and make sure these concerns are addressed and resolved so they can freely talk about their loved ones in a way they are comfortable with while we continue to support, promote and educate about the value of organ donation.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Once again, I reiterate my support for the premise of this bill and the awareness it will create for organ and tissue donation. I just want to see some more work done on it before it is ready to pass into legislation; hence, while this bill will be supported through the House, there are some questions that need to be teased out in the Senate.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The essence of this bill is legislative change that will allow encouragement and role modelling of the dramatic effect that donation has by personalising it once authority has been obtained from the close family and relatives of someone who has been a donor or a recipient.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“So, to the extent to which I think the clear intent of the legislation is to encourage and facilitate organ donation and transplants, I support and commend this bill.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I'll be watching this pass through the Senate. I'll be hoping that they do put scrutiny onto it, because I know there are others in this country who would like to see that change but I am a firm believer that the privacy of the recipients of organs should be paramount, because we don't know exactly what sort of relationship we would end up with if the families of donors actually got to meet the recipients of their loved ones' organs. So I support this bill with the reservation that it is thoroughly scrutinised through the Senate process.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The opposition will support the passage of this legislation through the House, and we will take the time to explore these reforms properly in the Senate.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Considering this bill intends to support DonateLife and other agencies and the work they do in this area, we absolutely support the intention of these amendments. We acknowledge that this bill builds on the coalition's work to improve greater rates of organ and tissue donation in Australia; however, we do have concerns with the amount of time and consultation undertaken prior to the introduction of this bill, particularly in regard to the change of definitions contained in this bill. Time and time again, we are concerned by this government's refusal to allow for appropriate levels of consultation on their legislation and to follow proper process, so we have some questions we would like to tease out in the Senate committee process. The opposition will support the passage of this legislation through the House and we will take time to explore these reforms properly in the Senate.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
House · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
House · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
House · Second reading agreed to
Second reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
House · Third reading agreed to
Third reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Senate · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Senate · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Senate · Second reading debate
Second reading debate
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Senate · Second reading agreed to
Second reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at second reading, meaning it accepted the bill in principle and allowed it to continue.
Senate · Third reading agreed to
Third reading agreed
The chamber agreed to the bill at third reading, which completed passage through that chamber.
Parliament · Finally passed both Houses
Passed both houses
Both houses passed the bill in the same form, completing parliamentary passage.
Assent · Assent
Assent
The Governor-General gave Royal AssentThe final step that turns a bill into an Act, meaning the new donation disclosure rules become law., turning the bill into an Act.
Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee; Committee report (26/07/2023)
Referred to committee
Referred to Committee (15 June 2023): Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee; Committee report (26 July 2023)
APH bill page notes
