With DonateLife Week just around the corner, a Rowville mum has teamed up with the Upper Ferntree Gully Football Netball Club, where her son Liam plays in the senior team, to raise awareness about the life-saving gift of organ donation.
Joanne Scott is actively urging the community to register as organ and tissue donors, and tell their family, because they could be the reason someone else gets a second chance at life.
She hopes more people will sign up at this DonateLife round.
Ms Scott is one of around 1800 Australians currently waiting for an organ transplant.
Diagnosed with liver disease in 2021, she has spent over two years on the national transplant waitlist, one of many Australians who understand just how urgent the need is and how powerful raising community awareness can be.
“You kind of put your life on hold,” Ms Scott said.
“You’re required to be at the hospital within two hours if you get the call. You don’t leave your phone anywhere. You’re always checking it, hoping something will happen.”
In that time, she’s focused on her health and stability, adapting to what she calls her “new normal”.
Though she still needs a liver transplant, Ms Scott remains proactive and determined to raise awareness of organ and tissue donation.
This year, she’s channelled her energy into organising a DonateLife round with the Upper Ferntree Gully Football and Netball Club on Saturday 26 July – the day before DonateLife Week officially begins.
Her son Liam, affectionately known as “Scotty”, plays senior footy at the club.
It’s a place Ms Scott describes not just as a sports hub, but a genuine community, one she’s deeply involved in as a volunteer and supporter.
“I just saw an opportunity with the football club to use that audience,” Ms Scott said.
“They’re an active crowd, very involved in the club. And they’ve been incredibly supportive.”
She’s not asking for money, just a moment of time, to talk, to register, and to tell your family.
“You feel like when you’re doing community events you’re always putting your hand out asking for money,” she said.
“We’re not asking for a dime. We’re just asking people to register and talk about it.”
That simple conversation could be the reason someone else gets a second chance at life.
Organ donation is something Ms Scott is passionate about normalising.
“It’s nothing terrible, talking about it doesn’t mean you’re going to die tomorrow,” she said.
“But if the worst was to happen, can you champion this cause and donate what you can?”
“The most important thing is that your family knows your wishes. At that very emotional, difficult time, they’re the ones who need to support your decision,” Ms Scott said. “It’s much better to live on through someone else if you can – to breathe life into somebody else who needs it.”
While she works full-time, Ms Scott’s condition means she often has to avoid crowds, manage a strict medication schedule, and limit certain activities, all while maintaining regular doctor’s visits.
“There are lots of side effects, but you wouldn’t necessarily know just by looking at me,” she said.
Her hope is that her own journey helps others understand what it’s really like to live with a chronic condition and to wait for the call that could change everything.
“There are people on the list who are way sicker than me,” she said.
“I wish them all the best. I’d never begrudge anyone an organ that came up. But if and when my time comes, I want to be ready and I want others to be ready too.”
DonateLife Week, which runs from Sunday 27 July to Sunday 3 August 2025, is Australia’s key public awareness campaign for organ and tissue donation.
The goal is simple – to get more Australians registered as donors and talking about it.
While four-in-five Australians say they support donation, only one-in-three are actually registered.
And crucially, 80 per cent of families will agree to donation if they know you’re a registered donor, that number drops to just 40 per cent if they don’t know your wishes.
One donor can save the lives of up to seven people and improve the lives of many more through eye and tissue donation.
For Craig Bridle, president of the Upper Ferntree Gully Football and Netball Club, supporting Ms Scott’s initiative was an easy decision.
“When someone like Joanne Scott comes to you with an idea to support an organisation such as DonateLife, you can’t help but want to get behind it,” Mr Bridle said.
“She has connected with the club as a supporter, but also as a volunteer, helping with events, Thursday meals, and even being a contact for players who may be struggling. She has the personality that makes the members of our club so great.”
Mr Bridle said the club is proud to be part of something bigger than sport.
“As a football/netball club, we want to ensure it isn’t just a place to play sport. It needs to be a community – a place where people come together to support each other,” he said.
“We hope that the whole club can turn up in numbers on the day and become a donor. Not only to support this organisation, but also Jo, who in her short time here, has shown what a beautiful, selfless and community-minded person she is.”
Ms Scott’s message is simple but yet, a powerful one.
“Talk, talk talk and register to become a donor, it takes less than a minute to register, but it could give someone else a lifetime,” she said.
Register as an organ and tissue donor at donatelife.gov.au.
