Organ donors² in Australia will be paid cash grants of about £2,500 to donate body parts such as their kidney or liver.

 

The payments are intended to take pressure off waiting lists and compensate³ donors for having to take time off（休息，休假） work. The payments will be based on the national minimum wage but will only be paid to donors who are employed.

 

The health minister, Tanya Plibersek, said the payment was not intended to allow donors to make a profit but would help them to recover the cost of taking six weeks off work to recover. Most donations in Australia involve kidneys and are provided by family members.

 

"You won't be financially better off, we just want to reduce the financial burden of taking time off," Mrs Plibersek said.

 

"We know that there are a number of people who just cannot afford to take six weeks off work. This reduces the financial burden on someone who is making the greatest gift that they can to a family member, or even to a stranger."

 

Iran has long paid organ donors, while Singapore has also moved to allow payments.

 

There were about 1080 people on the kidney transplant waiting list in Australia last year, but only 237 live kidney donors. About 288 Australians donate an organ each year.

 

However, the government has ruled out allowing individuals to buy organs from would-be donors.

 

"I do not think it is right to pay for organ donations," Mrs Plibersek said.

 

"I think that is crossing a moral and ethical⁴ bridge that I would not be able to cross."

 

The government is planning to spend about £890,000 on donor¹ payments over the next two years. Each donor will be paid a weekly payment of £414 for six weeks.

 

The additional kidney transplants are expected to cut public health costs by avoiding the need to provide dialysis（透析）.

 

The saving is likely to be about £50,000 a year for each patient who receives a kidney transplant rather than dialysis.

 

The head of Kidney Health Australia, Anne Wilson, welcomed the donor payments, saying deceased organ donations would not be able to meet the country's transplantation demand.

 

"Providing the ability to take time off work whilst still having some form of income for everyday expenses such as bills, mortgage, groceries etc means there is one thing less to worry about for this group of people, who are giving someone else the gift of life," she told ABC News.

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