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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-12-02 Daily Xml
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Joint Committee on the Operation of the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1983

Ms VLAHOS (Taylor) (11:03): I move:

That the report of the committee be noted.

As a member of parliament who represents the northern metropolitan area of Adelaide in the Northern Adelaide Plains, I would like to take the opportunity to speak to a diverse and multicultural electorate. Over the years that I have been a member of parliament I have heard several constituents voice their concerns, particularly those who come from Vietnam and Cambodia (and having travelled to these countries). Their concerns are about organ harvesting and a transplant tourism industry that seems to be growing.

It was not that long ago that I attended a fundraiser for the Sunrise Children's Villages, an NGO that cares for children in Cambodia who are most vulnerable. The founder of this organisation, Geraldine Cox AM, described an horrific story of tissue being harvested from a child she was looking to bring into the orphanage.

I have also heard accounts from my constituents of Cambodian and Vietnamese background that reinforce that this shameful industry exists. There are also increasing issues around the globe about the amount of human rights abuse generally perpetrated against low-income communities and countries from people who are keen to sell their organs.

According to 2014 data, South Australia has the highest per capita organ donation rate amongst all the states in Australia. Our state has a proud tradition of ensuring that we facilitate best practice transplant processes in Australia and around the world, and this year South Australia celebrated 50 years of success in kidney transplantation. It was a timely opportunity to establish a Joint Committee on the Operation of the Transplantation and Anatomy Act, which has been in place since 1983.

The committee was formed jointly across both houses to conduct a review on the operation of the act and to ensure that it services the community well in terms of operation and performance and in the space of contemporary ethics as we move forward as a South Australian community. Our society's views have changed greatly since the act first came into effect. As the Chair of the committee, and as a former health administrator, it has been informative to hear the testimony of experts and advocates in the field of organ transplantation and tissue.

The committee received reports from related authorities regarding the operation of state and federal legislation and just how our state can be an international leader in this field. We also heard disturbing reports about practices of non-consensual organ harvesting overseas that confirmed the feedback from my electorate. In an ever-increasing global society, South Australia must be taking the initiative to be proactive in the steps we legislate for to ensure that the ethical global rights of citizens are maintained.

Some of the recommendations put forward by the committee aim to address these issues by strengthening our safeguards against organs sourced by unethical and illegal means. The committee also suggested the creation of a criminal offence for noncompliance to these measures. We should not stand idly by waiting for a situation to occur, as we have recently heard about in the surrogacy industry, or for a problem to arrive on our doorstep. We should take active steps now to futureproof our legislation and protect our citizens and those of our global neighbours nearby.

I would like to thank the committee members who participated and the supporting staff for their time and efforts. I would also like to thank the witnesses, both local and international, for submitting their considered evidence. We have spoken to many community advocates, medical specialists and legal experts who have specialisation in this legislation regarding organ transplantation.

The committee's recommendations contain suggested improvements to add to the state's enviable organ donation system, improve equity and ensure that donors are being given full consent and understand what is about to occur in their lives. I look forward to continuing the discussion about how we can continuously improve organ donation in South Australia and Australia more generally. I commend the report to the house.

Mr DULUK (Davenport) (11:07): It is my pleasure to speak today and it was my pleasure to sit on this committee. This was my first joint committee, being on the operation of the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1983. As the member for Taylor said, the aim of this committee was to inquire into and report on the operation of the act, which is now some 32 years old, and whether or not it should be amended in respect to trafficking in human organs and related matters.

In particular, the committee considered whether or not the act adequately addressed medical advances and social changes in terms of family composition, media and, significantly, the demand for organ transplants that have occurred over the past 30 years. I, too, would like to thank all the committee members, especially the Hon. John Dawkins from the other place, who provided very good guidance to me.

South Australia has some of the highest per capita organ donation rates in Australia, and that is something we should be very proud of. Our transplant technology and medical expertise are world leading. Of course, this year marks 50 years since South Australia celebrated the first successful kidney transplant.

There is a summary of 19 recommendations proposed out of the committee; some of them were procedural and reflected a requirement to update the act in terms of words and meanings, but there were also six ethical considerations that the committee proposed. To me, it is really these ethical considerations that do need to be reviewed, and I hope that the minister does review the medical considerations.

To my mind, we need to look at an enhanced and more coordinated approach to organ harvesting and trafficking at a national level, which is certainly outside the jurisdiction of this parliament, and it is important to ensure that Australians, both as individuals and as a medical fraternity, are not caught up in this abhorrent international trade. There are six ethical considerations that are most important, and then there are seven other recommendations as well in terms of what we should be doing as jurisdictions in order to look at the area of harvesting and trafficking and the need for further research into alternative therapies and the like.

I want to put on the record my thanks to the member for Taylor for establishing and driving this very important initiative, and I urge all members to look at the recommendations and to see where we can go from here.

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (11:10): I too rise to speak on this really important joint committee that gathered a number of times. We heard from a number of witnesses in the professional area and also from those with heartrending stories to tell us concerning their own communities and how their communities had been preyed upon, for want of a better word.

My interest in this, besides being a parliamentarian, is twofold. I have a nursing background, and I happened to work at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where kidney transplants were really a big focus back in the day when I was there. It was a very exciting advancement in medical field, and I saw the benefits it brought. Organ donation and organ transplant is a very important medical ability for all of us to support. However, we need to support this in an ethical and moral way, and I think that was clear from this committee and its investigations. My other interest was through my Cambodian connections and the stories I have heard surrounding people there and in other countries.

I applaud all those who gathered and heard from the witnesses. We looked at a number of recommendations, and I suggest that these recommendations are taken seriously. Those who presented to the committee were keen to make sure that South Australia adopts an ethical and moral framework to send a strong message and to tighten the net so that the black market cannot ensue elsewhere. The ethical considerations were very high on our compass, if you like.

The implications of this review, this committee, are paramount. I think that what is interesting in this is to free up some of the language around organ donations and how organ donation occurs, particularly when looking at terminology like 'designated officer' and what that means. It also looked at the ethical considerations and it did a bit of future gazing as well, looking into the future with technologies and advancements. Transplants will look quite different in the future, but these also need to be done within ethical and moral boundaries. With those few words, I support this report, and I look forward to the recommendations being considered.

Ms VLAHOS (Taylor) (11:13): I thank all my colleagues for their contributions today. I reiterate my thanks to the committee staff and to the assembly people who assisted us during the time, our researcher, members in the other house and all the witnesses.

Motion carried.

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