COMMUNITY GRANTS FOR ORGAN AND TISSUE DONATION AWARENESS
National Railway Museum successful - $3,500 grant
The Liberal and Nationals Government has today awarded $407,194 in Community Awareness Grants to organisations nationwide to encourage more Australians to talk about organ and tissue donation and register to be a donor.
The Minister responsible for the Organ and Tissue Authority, the Hon Mark Coulton MP, announced that funding has been awarded to 20 national and local community-based projects.
“The grants awarded today will drive awareness for organ and tissue donation through community and local initiatives to increase registrations on the Australian Organ Donor Register and encourage conversation about organ and tissue donation,” Minister Coulton said.
“It’s great to see the range of activities this year, including a number of grants going to rural and local communities. There is also a focus on engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and multicultural communities”.
Of the 20 projects funded, 14 will be launched during DonateLife Week 2019, with activities ranging from national broadcasting and social media campaigns to local sporting and community events. DonateLife Week, Australia’s national awareness week dedicated to promoting organ and tissue donation, will be held from Sunday 28 July to Sunday 4 August 2019.
During DonateLife Week, all Australians are encouraged to register to be an organ and tissue donor at donatelife.gov.au to have the opportunity to one day save lives.
“It takes less than one minute to go online at donatelife.gov.au and register as an organ donor; all you need is your Medicare number,” Mr Coulton said.
Joining the Australian Organ Donor Register has a direct influence on increasing our donation rate, with nine in 10 families saying yes to donation when their loved one is a registered donor.
“With 1,400 Australians currently wait-listed for a transplant, we can do more by encouraging our friends, family and colleagues to have the chat and register as organ donors. A further 11,000 Australians are on dialysis, many of whom would benefit from a kidney transplant. For someone seriously ill, an organ or tissue transplant can mean the difference between life and death,” Mr Coulton said.
The Community Awareness Grants are administered by the Organ and Tissue Authority as part of its Community Awareness and Education program.
The National Railway Museum was very pleased to receive a $3,500 grant under this program, which will be used specifically for the rebuilding and painting of one 457mm gauge railway carriage – used at both the Port Adelaide museum site and along the Semaphore Railway next season.
The official unveiling of the carriage will occur at the railway museum, at 11am on Saturday 20 July 2019, during the 4-day Family Fun Fair event in the school holidays.
National Railway Museum receives $300,000 grant
Following several months of liaison, the SA Government (through the Department for Education) has granted a sum of $300,000 to NRM for the construction of an extension to the western side of the Fluck pavilion. Measuring about 94m long, 8m wide and 6m high, the massive structure will be a welcomed addition to provide undercover storage for rolling stock.
It is proposed that the operational rolling stock ie; broad gauge Redhen and Bluebird railcars, along with broad gauge diesel loco 801 and standard gauge loco 515 will be positioned under this cover on a section of track to be made triple gauge. On days when narrow gauge Peronne is running, these railcars and locomotives will be temporarily repositioned during that event, being returned afterwards. The 457mm gauge railway will remain where it is and run through the open ended building.
Subsequently, the undercover space created by repositioning this rolling stock to the new shed area can be used for placing other items in the collection undercover. Some favourable suggestions received thus far include standard gauge CR Budd railcar CB1, broad gauge steam loco 752, diesel engine 930 and the GWA Hi-rail.
Construction of the new shed will commence in about mid-September with completion planned for the end of October this year. Additionally NRM has been working with the Australian Rail Track Corporation to assist with most of the required triple gauge track work, and some local rail infrastructure companies to manufacture some complex triple gauge turnout components. 
Spanlift Australia Sales & Marketing Manager Garry Grace (left) and NRM Executive Officer Bob Sampson review the initial development plans at the project site.
Please see the dates and times for special tours at the museum in 2019. Bookings not required.
August
Wegmann lounge carriage – Wed 7th (one tour, 10:30am), Sun 11th (tours between 10am and 3pm)
October
Dynamometer Car – Wed 2nd (one tour, 10:30am), Sun 6th (tours between 10am and 3pm)
November
Onkaparinga carriage – Wed 6th (one tour, 10:30am), Sun 10th (tours between 10am and 3pm)
Book release: Railway Track & Signalling - Tasmania 2018
A new publication is available, featuring details of the current track and signalling infrastructure of TasRail and the tourist railways of Tasmania. Please be advised, this book is not available from the National Railway Museum shop. The below PDF is an order form which shows postage details to order the book directly from the author.
Railway Track & Signalling - Tasmania 2018 order form