It was literally a life-changing experience for the prominent Labor Party and Australian Rules figure, so it comes as no surprise that he is fully supportive of plans to make organ donor registration a much simpler process.

From May, registering to become an organ donor will be a one-step, online process able to be completed in less than 10 minutes with no paperwork necessary.

Currently 7 per cent of Australians, or 1.8 million people, are registered to donate.

"If this change results in the 4.3 million people who have previously signaled an intention to become an organ donor completing registration, we could quickly triple the donor pool and save more lives," Minister responsible for organ donation Fiona Nash said.

"However I hope far more people than that will register, and importantly, tell their families about their decision."

Those sentiments were echoed by Mr Knagge, who was encouraged by an increase in figures from the time of his procedure but admitted more could be done

"I go down to St Vincent's twice a year for check-ups and they have told me that from the time I had my operation six years ago to now, the number of heart transplants has pretty much doubled," Mr Knagge said.

"That's terrific news and it comes about from more people talking to their families about their wishes, because it can be an awkward thing for families to think about when they're grieving the loss of a loved one.

"I also think there's a lot of people who would like to be on the register but don't because of the paperwork, so making that process easier will increase numbers and save more lives."

According to figures, there are 1600 Australians on the list for some sort of organ at any given time, and tragically 50 Australians die every year waiting for an organ.

Mr Knagge admits he is lucky not to be part of those statistics.

"I was very ill by the time I received my transplant, and I had been called twice, rushed down and they were false starts, so it was really third time lucky," he said.

"I was on that waiting list for more than six months, had those two calls that didn't eventuate, so it was a long time to be sick and getting sicker.

"The strangest thing about the whole process was after I had the operation, for the first little bit, I kept telling the nurses and doctors that I didn't feel right. Their explanation for that was that I hadn't been well for so long beforehand that feeling unwell was what I considered normal."

Mr Knagge has contacted the family of the person whose heart he received via the input of the Australian Red Cross, and said not only did his transplant aid him it also helped that particular family.

"I don't know who they are and they don't know me," he said.

"It's all handled by the Red Cross. It took me six months to write to the family and express my gratitude and through the correspondence they told me that they were relieved their son's life wasn't a waste as he had given me a second chance at life."