Australia’s life-saving bone marrow registry needs $13m. Why is red tape holding it up?

Jack Stevens, who died of a rare form of leukaemia, with parents Louise and Gary Stevens, who provided this photo. The Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry is calling for the release of funding to raise awareness and boost donor numbers Photograph: Supplied by Louise Stevens

Louise Stevens remembers her four-year-old son Jack as “pure joy – loved to dance, loved music, loved – oh God, he just loved people”.

“He was so kind,” she says. “Whoever was in front of him, he would find a compliment for them. It was different each time, it wasn’t rote learned, it was so genuine.”