The Numbers…

This is the current makeup of 18 to 35 years olds on the Australian blood stem cell donor registry:

North West European (“white” Australian) 61%

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander 2.5%

Oceania & Pasifika 1.9%

Southern & Eastern European 17.4%

Middle East & North Africa 2.5%

South East Asian 3.2%

North East Asian 3.5%

South & Central Asian 4.5%

People of Americas 1.6%

Sub Saharan Africa 1.9%

Hover over the pie chart to see the breakdown of ethnicities

Why a diverse donor registry is important

Currently, a North Caucasian or “white” Australian has a higher chance of finding a match and therefore survival compared to an ethnically diverse or indigenous Australian. This is because a patient is more likely to find their lifesaving match with someone who shares a similar ethnic or cultural heritage to them, unfortunately there are not enough people from ethnically diverse or indigenous background registered as potential donors. This a problem in multicultural Australia!

Ethnicity explained

The definition of “ethnicity” is not always simple. But in basic terms, your ethnic or indigenous background refers to the country that your ancestors came from. It doesn't necessarily mean that you only have an ethnic background if you were born in another country. Your ethnic background can also be from where your ancestors came from (ie- parents, grand-parents, great-grandparents and so on). So for example your parents could be born in Italy to Italian parents but you were born in Australia, your ethnic background would be Italian.

Some people have a mixed heritage, for example you might be born in Australia but your father was born in Ireland to Irish parents and your mother was born in Italy to Italian parents, this means your ethnic background is half Irish and half Italian. 

“Australian” is not technically an ethnic background. Unless you are a First Nations or indigenous Australia, then your ancestors would have come from another country so your heritage would be English, Irish, Scottish and plenty of other places!

Essentially, the make-up of your blood and your "tissue type" (the unique code used to see if you match with a patient), is given its unique profile from your bloodline and ancestors. That's why a patient is more likely to find their match with someone who shares a similar ethnic background or heritage to them.

Examples of countries & ethnicities

North Caucasian also referred to at times as North West European includes countries and areas such as the UK, Ireland, Germany and more.

Pacific Islander includes countries like Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and more

Southern European includes countries like Italy, Greece, Spain, other Mediterranean countries, Eastern European countries like Croatia and more

African includes countries like Algeria, Zimbabwe, Sudan and more.

Asian includes countries like China, India, Vietnam and more.

Middle Eastern includes countries like Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq and more. 

Eastern Europe includes countries like Croatia, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina and more.

Indigenous such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

Why not target everyone join?

We often get asked why we focus so much on recruiting people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. While we aim to raise awareness of the cause with everyone, we particularly target those from diverse cultural backgrounds to take action and join the registry.

In an ideal world, we'd love to have people from all backgrounds join! But there are a few reasons why it’s important we focus on those with diverse backgrounds.

  • Patients from ethnic and culturally diverse backgrounds are greatly underrepresented on the registry. This makes it much harder for them to find a matching stem cell donor, which could be their only chance for a cure

  • .Over 80% of people on the Australian registry are from North West European/North Caucasian backgrounds (ie “white” Australian), and the rest of the groups, such as Italians, Greeks, Asians, Middle Eastern and more are split across tiny percentages, with some having less than 1% representation.

  • If we were to DOUBLE the number of people currently on the registry, it would only increase the chances of overall patients finding their match by 5%. You’d think that by doubling the number of people that it would double the chances, but it’s not the case because the registry is still mostly made up of people from North Caucasian “white” backgrounds

  • With limited funding and samples that can be tested and collected each year, adding more people from North Caucasian backgrounds essentially uses up funding to test a sample type that we already have plenty of and doesn’t necessarily increase overall matching. That’s why it’s so important to focus on gathering samples from those with ethnic or indigenous heritage—because that’s what really makes a difference in improving overall matching