DonateLife Week celebrations returned to Royal North Shore Hospital yesterday to raise awareness around organ and tissue donation.

DonateLife Week is run by the Australian Government’s Organ and Tissue Authority and is currently taking place from 24 July to Sunday 31 July this year.

This year focuses on the Great Registration Race, which aims to encourage 100,000 Australians to become registered organ and tissue donors by the end of the DonateLife Week.

To raise awareness for DonateLife Week and help drive registration numbers, NSLHD Donation Specialists Cassandra Reid, Jenny Holman, Alyce Robinson and Grace Turnbull got to work to encourage staff, patients and their families to have the conversation about organ and tissue donation.

The team did this through something many people have conversations over – coffee.

The NSLHD Donation Specialists team visited cafés around the RNSH campus to stick stickers containing a QR code to register for donation on to cups.

Alyce said the week encourages normalising conversations around organ and tissue donation amongst family and loved ones. 

“It is a sensitive topic for many families, but it is important to normalise these conversations and encourages everyone to start talking with their family during DonateLife Week,” she said.

You can register to be an organ and tissue donor by visiting www.donatelife.gov.au/register-donor-today.