AUSTRALIA will never adopt a cash-for-organs scheme, but will follow other countries in paying donors who take leave from work, Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says.
Workers who want to donate a kidney will be offered up to six weeks' paid leave at minimum wage, up to $3600, under a federal government plan to reduce the waiting list for life-saving organs.
Ms Plibersek said the government would put up a "relatively modest contribution" of $1.3 million from the federal health budget for a two-year trial that will be reviewed in 2015.
"We know that there are a number of people who just cannot afford to take six weeks off work," she told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.
"This reduces the financial burden on someone who is making the greatest gift that they can to a family member, or even to a stranger."
The scheme is not just for full-time workers. Part-time and self-employed workers will also receive payment, while the unemployed will get sickness benefits.
"You won't be financially better off, we just want to reduce the financial burden of taking time off," Ms Plibersek said.
The scheme is similar to ones operating in other countries.
But Ms Plibersek said a system where people would be paid to sell organs would never be acceptable here.
"I do not think it is right to pay for organ donations," the minister said.
"I think that is crossing a moral and ethical bridge that I would not be able to cross."
Kidney Health Australia chief executive Anne Wilson said the announcement was a "big win" for those with kidney disease.
Recent figures from the Australian & New Zealand Organ Donation Registry show there were 1080 people on the kidney transplant waiting list in Australia in 2012, but only 237 live kidney donors.
Ms Wilson said the scheme was a step toward reducing the gap between donors and recipients.
"People have come to us saying that this is a barrier and that's why it's an initiative that we applaud," she said.
"We get calls once or twice a week from people talking about problems associated with being an organ donor.
"It's very heart-breaking. If you can't (donate organs) because of financial barriers, you can imagine that must build a lot of resentment (between families) and make them feel dreadful," she said.
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