The government wants more people to donate organs and it's putting $4 million into a campaign to raise the rate.
Health Minister Tony Ryall says 186 people received transplants last year but many are still waiting - more than 600 just for kidney replacements.
"Organ donation saves the lives of people with severe heart, lung and liver disease," he said on Wednesday.
Health professionals are going to be trained to identify dying patients who might become donors and help families decide whether a "live" organ donation is the right way to go.
"Some patients requiring a transplant will have a family member or friend willing to donate an organ, such as a kidney, but because of different blood or tissue types they are incompatible," Mr Ryall said.
"We're exploring the option of establishing a national donor exchange scheme where we can mix and match several incompatible donor and recipient pairs together so each recipient gets a compatible donor."
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