Surge in West Aussies signing up to be organ donors after registration added to driver’s licence and car forms

Hundreds more West Australians have signed up to be an organ donor over the past few months since the life-saving option has been reinstated onto drivers licence and vehicle renewal forms. Organ donation registrations have surged by 50 per cent since March — an increase credited to a collaboration between DonateLife WA and the Department of Transport, with QR codes to Donate back on the forms. The tick box option on drivers licence renewal forms to sign up for organ donation was ended in 2004, with a national donor registration database set up instead. DonateLife WA medical director David Blythe said the QR codes had proven successful but there were still more people needing a transplant than registered donors. “About 80 per cent of Australians support donation, if you ask them the question, but only 36 per cent are actually on the donor list,” he said. “Donations are not for everybody but the important thing is having a conversation with your family and letting them know what your wishes are at the end of life. “This doubles the rate of successful donation from about 40 per cent if you’ve never spoken to your family to about 80 per cent if you have.” Last year 46 people donated their organs at the end of their life while 32 have done the same so far in 2025. Organ donations are expected to surpass 50 in WA this year. Every day of the past decade has been a gift for Brett Driessen after he received a heart transplant when he was just 41. The fit father-of-two suddenly woke one morning with a bloated stomach and, after a slew of tests at Rockingham General Hospital, he was told he had chronic heart failure. Medication managed his condition for a time but his entire heart was compromised. Within months Mr Driessen was told his only option was a heart transplant. “The doctors said to me, because I’m tall that I would wait longer for a transplant, because they have to find a physical match, not just blood groups and genetics,” he said. “I thought that I was going to die, for sure, because there’s not many people that are six foot four.” However, Mr Driessen was given the gift of a heart seven months after being on the waitlist. “When I was diagnosed, I was having thoughts like I’m not even going to get to see my boys go to high school,” he said. “A decade later, my boys have finished school and they’re in university. I couldn’t have asked for more. “I respect that organ donation is not for everybody, however, if you want to see the benefits, I’m a living product of why it works.” Since his heart transplant Mr Driessen has completed half marathons, the Breaths and Beats organ transplant fundraiser bike rides and Busselton Jetty swims. He will be a part of the Breaths and Beats ride again this November, which is either a 34km or 60km ride around South Perth that raises money for WA’s Heart and Lung Research Institute. The Fiona Stanley Hospital heart transplant nurse practitioner that cared for him, Clare Fazackerley, will also be a part of the ride. “There are a lot of people who aren’t as fortunate to have good health and there’s a lot on the donor waiting list,” she said. “When you’re at a time of your life when you don’t need them, it’s an opportunity to give someone the chance to live a much longer and healthier life.” National Organ Donor Week continues until Sunday. To register as an organ and tissue donor, visit donatelife.gov.au.