The 1500 Australians waiting for organ transplants have prompted federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton to encourage the adopting of a life-saving New Year's resolution.
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Mr Coulton, the Minister for Regional Services, Decentralisation and Local Government, reports signing up to be a donor only takes "one minute".
"..have your Medicare card handy and go to donatelife.gov.au," he said.
Mr Coulton insists family must know of the decision to be a donor.
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He said the main reason families declined donation was because they were unsure of the wishes of deceased loved ones.
"In 2018, nine out of 10 families agreed to organ donation proceeding when their loved one was a registered donor," Mr Coulton said.
"This dropped to five out of 10 when their loved one was not registered and the family had no prior knowledge of their wish."
Mr Coulton suggests Australians should "count themselves in, not rule themselves out, and leave the decision if you are able to be a donor up to the doctors when the time comes".
"You are never too old to register and having a few drinks and/or eating unhealthy won't stop you from being a donor," he said.
"Even if you can't become an organ donor many people go on to become eye, skin and tissue donors."
Mr Coulton said along with the 1500 people waiting for a transplant, a further 11,000 were on dialysis.
"In the last decade more than 11,000 Australians have received an organ transplant thanks to 4000 donors and their families," he said.
