The first organ donor office is going to be established in Tasmania. The Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will announce it today as part of a $150 million drive to boost Australia’s low rate of organ donations, which is among the worst in the developed countries.

Andrew Taylor, based at the Royal Hobart Hospital will be appointed as the state medical director for organ and tissue donation since he is an experienced intensive-care doctor.

He will be supporting and educating organ-donor families and linking Tasmania with the new national Donate Life Network.

He will also help in developing the state’s first organ and tissue donation agency.

Clinicians from Victoria needed to fly to Tasmania, until now, to assess potential donor patients and recipients needed to travel all the way to Hobart for transplant surgery.

Australian Organ and Tissue Authority national medical director Gerry O’Callaghan said that there were hopes of fulfilling those functions within two years by the Tasmanian donation agency.

Dr O’Callaghan said, "Andrew will be assisted in this by Rob Thornton, who is a very experienced nurse based at the RHH, and there will be two part-time positions in Launceston and Burnie that are in the process of recruitment."

Tasmania has a better donation rate than the national rate which is 16 per million as compared to 12 per million.

$276,000 will be received by the state this financial year to begin the project. Yesterday, Mr Rudd encouraged the families to talk about the organ donation to understand the wishes of each other.