National Rural Health Alliance appoints new Chair

The National Rural Health Alliance has appointed Heather Keighley, a Lecturer at Flinders University College of Medicine and Public Health in Darwin and a board member of the Australian College of Nursing, as its new Chairperson. Keighley has been a member of the Alliance board since June 2020.

The Alliance comprises 53 national organisations committed to improving the health and wellbeing of the over seven million people in rural and remote Australia. The new chairperson and board members will help guide the organisation towards this outcome.

Associate Professor Geoff Argus, the inaugural Director of Southern Queensland Rural Health, takes on the position of Deputy Chair. He has been a longstanding ally of the Alliance and has served its council and board for many years.

Continuing on the board are Jacqueline Emery, Nicole Liesis and Penny Stewart, alongside newly appointed members Anthony Paulson and Susan Trevillian. Paulson’s people are from the Worimi and Mununjali nations and he is the acting General Manager of Joint Colleges Training Services. Trevillian is Chair of the Rural and Remote Specialty Practice, Advanced Pharmacy Australia.

“Congratulations to our new Chair, Deputy Chair and new Directors on their appointments. We are thrilled to have such a diverse and experienced group overseeing the governance and strategic priorities of the Alliance. Their leadership will be invaluable to our rural communities,” said Susi Tegen, Chief Executive of the Alliance.

“We are confident that the collective expertise of the new board will enhance our mission of improving access to quality health care for those living in rural, regional and remote areas,” she said.

The Alliance extended special acknowledgment to the previous Chair, Associate Professor Nicole O’Reilly, Head of School Allied Health Sciences at Charles Darwin University, whose guidance has been instrumental in its work. O’Reilly has served as Chair since 2020 and has been with the Alliance on the board and council, on and off, since 2008.

“It has truly been a pleasure working with Nicole O’Reilly and we wish her all the best in her future endeavours,” Tegen said.