Each year, the release of annual organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation data provides an important snapshot of Australia’s progress in increasing deceased and living organ and tissue donation for transplantation.
Today, the Assistant Minister responsible for the Organ and Tissue Authority, the Hon Rebecca White MP, announced the release of the 2025 Australian donation and transplantation data, in Hobart. She was joined by Michele Polley, whose son Aaron became an organ donor after a tragic car accident.
When Aaron’s family was approached in the hospital about organ donation, they already knew what Aaron would want because they had discussed it as a family. They agreed to donation and Aaron saved 4 lives.
Since the national DonateLife program began in 2009, more than 20,000 Australians have had a life-saving transplant thanks to more than 7,500 deceased organ donors and their families, who agreed to donation.
We thank all organ and tissue donors, and their families who agreed to donation, transforming the lives of people who needed a transplant in 2025.
We also acknowledge the dedication and commitment of DonateLife donation specialist staff, intensive care units and transplant teams, community advocates and supporters throughout the year.
2025 overview in numbers
In 2025, thanks to the generosity of 557 deceased organ donors, 1,438 Australians receiving a life-saving organ transplant. This is a 6% increase in donors compared to 2024, and the highest number of donors on record, and an 8% increase in the number of people receiving a transplant.
Australia’s rate of donors per million population (dpmp) increased to 20.2 dpmp from 19.4 dpmp in 2024, against a national target of 25 dpmp.
While Australia’s organ and tissue donation activity has increased, resulting in more Australian’s receiving a transplant, our consent rate remains low at 53%. This is consistent with 2024 but well below our peak consent rate of 60% in 2018.
Increasing the consent rate is critical for future growth in donation and transplantation. A consent rate of 60% would have seen an extra 200 life-saving organ transplants in 2025.
This would give hope to the around 2,000 Australians who are on a waitlist for an organ transplant and the additional 14,000 people on dialysis for kidney failure, many who could benefit from a kidney transplant.
Being a registered donor has a direct impact on families consenting to donation in the hospital. Around 8 in 10 families agree to donation in the hospital if their family member is registered. This drops to 4 in 10 when they don’t know if their family member wanted to be a donor.
By increasing the consent rate, we will increase the overall number of donors and the number of life-saving organs available for transplantation.
There were 147,969 new registrations on the Australian Organ Donor Register (AODR) in 2025. This is 15% less than 2024.
There are close to 8 million people registered on the AODR. This is only 35% of the eligible Australian population (aged 16 or over), despite 4 in 5 Australians saying they support organ and tissue donation.
In 2025, there were 230 living kidney donors, which is a 9% decrease from 2024. Of these, 53 kidney transplants were through the Australian and New Zealand Paired Kidney Exchange Program (ANZKX). This is a 20% decrease from 2024.
Many more people can become eye and tissue donors. Eye and tissue donation can occur for people who die outside a hospital and up to 24 hours after death.
In 2025, there were 1,677 deceased eye donors, down 1% from 2024. There were 2,757 corneal transplants, up 3% from 2024. Since 2009, more than 36,000 Australians have received a corneal transplant.
There were 332 deceased tissue donors, up 6% from 2024. Tissues that can be transplanted include heart valves, bone, tendons, ligaments, and skin.
There were 3,497 living tissue donors in 2025 resulting in 3,562 living tissue donations, predominantly from patients undergoing hip joint replacement surgery. The number of living tissue donations was 9% higher than 2024.
For more information, explore the 2025 donation and transplantation data
