The Blue Mountains region is one of the top five local government areas where people have registered as potential organ donors.
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As DonateLife Week started on July 23, new data has been released from the Australian Organ Donor Register revealing the Blue Mountains LGA has the second highest rate for registering as organ donors with the list as follows:
1. Bellingen (61 per cent of the population)
2. Blue Mountains (60 per cent)
3. Mosman & Weddin (59 per cent)
4. Kiama, Lockhart, Ballina, Eurobodalla, Murrumbidgee, Yass Valley and Bega Valley (58 per cent)
5. Edward River, Federation, Lake Macquarie, Lismore (57 per cent).
In the Blue Mountains a total of 38,550 people out of a potential pool of over 16-year-olds - about 64,000 - were registered last year.
Some 54,769 NSW residents registered as organ and tissue donors in 2022, bringing the total number registered to 2,670,875 - about 42 per cent of the state's population. This is above the national average of 36 per cent.
Each year, opportunities for transplants are missed because families are uncertain what to do.
A total of 319 NSW residents received an organ transplant last year, and 122 NSW residents became organ donors.
Discuss with your family
In Australia, families are always asked to support someone's decision to be a donor before this goes ahead. Families are much more likely to agree if their loved one was registered and they knew they wanted to be a donor.
Danielle Fisher, NSW Organ and Tissue Donation Service general manager, is asking people to take time to consider giving the gift of life by becoming an organ and tissue donor.
"You can make a real difference to the many Australians waiting for an organ or tissue by registering and then telling your family."
She said there were about 1,800 people on the organ waitlist, and to help them, they need more Australians to register - and to tell their family they want to be a donor.
One organ donor can save up to seven lives and help many others through eye and tissue donation, she said.
Anyone aged 16 and over can register online.
It doesn't matter how old you are, your medical history, your lifestyle, what country you're from or how healthy you are - you can still register as an organ and tissue donor in just one minute at donatelife.gov.au or with three taps in your Medicare app.
And for Australians who think they're already registered, it only takes one minute to double-check.
"You can make a real difference to the many Australians waiting for an organ or tissue by registering and then telling your family."
