DonateLife | Australian Organ & Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority

Our role, vision and mission

The Authority was established on 1 January 2009, as part of the National Reform Agenda.  The Authority's role is to establish - in partnership with states, territories, clinicians, consumers and the community - a nationally coordinated approach to organ and tissue donation for transplantation.  The Authority is also responsible for administering funds to non-government organisations to provide essential associated services, aligned to its purpose.

Our vision is to implement a world's best practice approach to organ and tissue donation for transplantation, and to work in concert with state and territory governments to improve access by Australians to life-saving and life-transforming transplants. 

Our mission is to deliver a highly effective national organ and tissue donation system with the support of Australian governments, the clinical profession and the community.

This is being achieved by implementing the following COAG endorsed measures of the National Reform Agenda:

    • A nationally coordinated approach and system for organ and tissue donation - the DonateLife Network.  At the end of December 2010, the DonateLife Network comprised 234 staff, including 162 clinical specialists of organ and tissue donation in 77 hospitals across Australia and 72 staff in eight specialist organ and tissue donation agencies.
    • Additional funding for hospitals to remove clinical barriers to organ and tissue donation.
    • Enhanced and tailored national professional education programs for clinical staff on organ and tissue donation practice.
    • Delivery of a national public communication campaign to raise community awareness of, and action to, increase donation rates.
    • Delivery of nationally consisten support for donor families.
    • Maintenance and continual development of safe, equitable and transparent national transplantation processes.
    • A national eye and tissue donation and transplantation network as part of the broader DonateLife Network.
    • Development and implementation of the Australian Paired Kidney Exchange and Donation after Cardiac Death programs.