Donating blood is a generous and life-saving act that many can participate in, and knowing how to get started is essential. Whether you choose to give blood, plasma, or platelets, the first crucial step is determining your eligibility to donate.

After confirming your eligibility, the next step is locating the nearest donor center. This can easily be done through online searches or by contacting local health services. Once you have found a convenient location, scheduling an appointment is simple and ensures the process runs smoothly.

The actual blood donation typically takes about 10 minutes, although you should plan for approximately an hour from start to finish when factoring in registration, pre-donation checks, and post-donation recovery.

Once you have checked your eligibility, you can find your nearest donor centre and book an appointment.

To donate blood, it takes around 10 minutes to donate with an appointment time of an hour.

Donating plasma takes around 45 minutes with a total appointment time of 90 minutes, whilst donating platelets takes around an hour, with a total appointment time of two hours.

Once you have checked your eligibility, you can find your nearest donor centre and book an appointment.

To donate blood, it takes around 10 minutes to donate with an appointment time of an hour.

Donating plasma takes around 45 minutes with a total appointment time of one and a half hours, whilst donating platelets takes around an hour, with a total appointment time of two hours.

How to find if I am eligible to donate blood

If you have recently had the COVID-19 vaccine, you must wait three days before you can donate blood.

There are some restrictions on what you can donate based on your recent sexual activity.

For example, if you have had oral or anal sex with a man in the last three months, you can only donate plasma.

If you are a sex worker or have had sex with a sex worker in the last three months, you are also only able to donate plasma, and not blood or platelets.

If you have had sexual activity in the last three months with someone who has had HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C or human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) infection, you cannot donate plasma, blood or platelets.

Your eligibility will also be impacted based on your recent travel history.

Where to donate blood; list of donation centres

There are donation centres across Sydney and New South Wales.