Australia Has ‘More or Less Done Nothing’ on Organ Trafficking: Human Rights Lawyer

SYDNEY—Australia is failing to do enough to combat overseas organ trafficking, Canadian human rights lawyer David Matas has warned.

On Sept. 22, Matas joined Australian families and victims outside Sydney Town Hall, continuing their push against the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) systemic forced organ harvesting practices.

“The problem which I’ve come to address in Australia, despite legislation around the world, including countries with which Australia has partnerships—countries like the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Europe—Australia has more or less done nothing,” Matas told the crowd.

Back in 2006, Matas along with former Canadian MP David Kilgour released the first investigation into forced organ harvesting by the CCP. Matas was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010.

He urged those attending the rally to raise the issue with their political representatives.

“This is an issue which, from my experience, a lot of people are not familiar with, and a lot of people are not familiar with what should be done to deal with it,” he said.

During his visit, Matas also addressed the Transplantation Society’s 2026 Congress in Sydney, focusing on the importance of mandatory reporting of overseas organ transplant operations.

Matas said he believes the practice is being perpetrated against Tibetans, House Christians, and against Uyghurs in 2017.

At the same time, he noted the most “prominent force trying to stop this is Falun Gong.”

“I welcome the opportunity to see you all, and I encourage you to keep on working and dealing with this issue,” Matas told the rally.

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a discipline rooted in ancient Chinese traditions that involve moral improvement leading to spiritual enlightenment.

The practice is composed of meditative exercises and a set of moral teachings centered on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.

From 1999, the CCP launched a nationwide persecution against the practice resulting in egregious human rights abuses.

Senator Continues Push for Overseas Transplants to Be Disclosed

On Aug. 20, Liberal Senator Dean Smith introduced the Migration Amendment (Overseas Organ Transplant Disclosure) Bill 2026 into the Senate.

The private bill is another attempt to amend the Migration Act so that those entering Australia must disclose whether they have received an organ transplant overseas within the previous five years on the Incoming Passenger Card.

They will then be required to provide details about the medical facility and the town, city, or country the transplant took place.

“The amendments proposed … are sensible and non-controversial, but they are also meaningful improvements that will advance Australia’s mission to uphold and enhance human rights,” Smith told the Senate.

“It is important to balance the need to report data that can be used to counter organ trafficking practices internationally with the need to preserve an individual’s right to reasonable medical privacy.”

The proposal follows the federal Parliament’s 2018 “Compassion, Not Commerce” inquiry into human organ trafficking and transplant tourism, which made 12 recommendations concerning Australia’s response to the issue.

An earlier version of Smith’s legislation passed the Senate in August 2024 but lapsed when Parliament was dissolved ahead of the 2025 federal election.

‘We Need Something Better Than Nothing’

Matas said he supports the bill, arguing Australia needs better information about transplant tourism.

“In order to have an effective law on forced organ transplants, or against complicity on forced organ transplants, you need to know about transplant tourism from Australia to China, and any other country where there’s transplant abuse,” he told The Epoch Times.

“This is one way of getting that information.”

He acknowledged concerns people could simply lie on their declaration.

“I would say that the concerns about dishonesty are overblown,” Matas said, noting that transplant recipients needed ongoing anti-rejection medication, so false declarations can be detected.

The lawyer also said the bill was valuable partly because there were few other comparable proposals.

“This is the only legislation we’ve got right now that’s being actively proposed, and we need something better than nothing,” he said, adding that data collection was an effective first step.

In the UK, clinicians must report patients who have received organ transplants overseas, as well as cases where they reasonably suspect a transplant-related offence. In Taiwan, patients are also required to report transplants.