Paediatric Organ Donation Specialist Nurse urges Australians to consider giving someone a second chance at life

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DonateLife Victoria paediatrics Nurse Donation Specialist Mellissa Short.

“Organ and tissue donation can help families cope with their grief in the months and years ahead of them, knowing that their child has gone on to transform the life of another child.”

Mellissa plays a critical role in the organ and tissue donation space, working closely with families to discuss the option of donation, helping them understand the process, and offering emotional support.

“I am not coming to families for an answer,” explains Mellissa.

“My job is to provide information to families about how their child could go on and help others, and guide them through that process.”

Paediatric organ donation is incredibly rare, reveals Mellissa.

Last year, across Victoria, just six children went on to become organ donors. Yet, at any given time, there are about 30 babies and children waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.

“I always talk about how rare and special it is and who I think they could help. But it’s not for all families, and that’s okay, too,” she says.

“It’s a special role where I’m kind of on the peripheries of a journey for this family and my main priority is to make sure that I provide whatever support is needed to this family who is giving this incredibly generous gift of life to someone else.”

DonateLife Week, Australia’s main national awareness raising week for organ and tissue donation, runs from 27 July to 3 August.

Data shows that while 4 in 5 Australians say they support donation, just 1 in 3 are registered to be a donor on the Australian Organ Donor Register (AODR). Eighty per cent of families will consent to donation if you are a registered donor. However, the number drops to 40% if they don’t know you wanted to be an organ and tissue donor or you haven’t registered. One organ donor can save the lives of up to seven people, with about 1,800 Australians currently on the organ transplant waitlist.

Mellissa’s message is simple: it’s really important that people have discussions with their loved ones about organ donation in the event that something happens to them.

Mellissa became a nurse in 2012, undertaking her grad year at The Alfred, where she worked on the respiratory unit looking after teenagers with cystic fibrosis who would come in for ‘tune-ups’, before eventually needing lung transplants.

“I just saw these kids going from being sick to having a transplant and then getting their entire life back and going to school, university, on holidays.”

The experience gave her an early insight into the importance of organ donation, and as her career progressed, she navigated towards the field to finally come on board as a DonateLife Victoria nurse at St Vincent’s, before starting at the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the RCH in 2021.

More recently, her dedication to the field led to her being awarded the prestigious 2025 Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Nursing Development Scholarship, which includes a $50,000 grant. Her project and study tour aims to address the underutilisation of small kidneys in Australia. By improving referral, allocation and acceptance pathways, Melissa is aiming to increase donation and transplant opportunities for children, ultimately enhancing equity in paediatric healthcare while supporting grieving families on a national scale.

“Currently, these tiny kidneys aren’t being utilised in Australia, but overseas they are,” she explains.

“I’m going to try and change the system that we work in to make sure that families can always choose to create a legacy for their child if they want, and more young patients can get transplants.”

DonateLife Week runs from Sunday 27 July to Sunday 3 August

It only takes one minute to register as an organ and tissue donor at donatelife.gov.au or through your Medicare account.

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