Donate Mate launches kiosks

Donor Mate general manager Jo Muir said they were particularly interested in 18 to 24 year olds because only eight per cent of that age group register their intent to be an organ donor even though the research shows over 90 per cent support organ donorship.

"We're looking for ways to give a visual prompt, it takes a minute to do it," she said.

"Signing up is great but also talking to your family about your intentions is also really important.

"We know that if your family are aware of your intentions, they're more likely to honour it when you die - the last thing we would want is for someone to be making a life decision when their loved ones have just died.

"As a society we're starting to talk about really tricky subjects, so maybe we're ready to talk about organ donation."

Ms Muir said that of the 25 million people in Australia, 70,000 die every year, of those only 1200 were appropriate for organ donation.

"Last year we only got about 500, so we need a lot more people on the register, your chances of being an organ donor is very small," she said.

"The chances of you being an organ donor are really not that great but the chances of you needing an organ is ten times greater."

Bunbury woman Merrell Carter was lucky enough to be given a donor heart four years ago and said she thought the kiosks were a fantastic idea.

"Everyone goes to a pharmacy at some stage or another and you've got to stand around and wait and what an ideal opportunity," she said.

"I've got life when I would not be here, I definitely would not be here if I didn't have a transplant.

"I used to live on a heart pump waiting for a compatible donor to come through for me.

"I'm doing well, I've welcomed a couple of grand children into my life - I'm so grateful to my donor every day."

The kiosks will be located at South City Chemmart and at South West Hospital Pharmacy.

For more information visit donormate.org.au.