Draft:Susi Tegen

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Susanne 'Susi' Tegen is an Austrian-born Australian educator, speaker and advocate for rural and remote health. She is currently the CEO of the Australian National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA).

Early life and education
Tegen was born in Salzburg, Austria, and attended school in Vienna before migrating to South Australia as a teenager, where she lived and worked on a sheep, cattle, and cropping property in the Limestone Coast region. Tegen has worked in South Australia (SA), Victoria, New South Wales (NSW), and remote Northern Territory (NT).

Tegen attended Scotch College in Adelaide, then completed a BA at the University of Adelaide, and Postgraduate Diploma of Education from the University of New England in 1986. She gained a MBA at the University of Melbourne in 2006, along with qualifications in organizational leadership, change management and rural leadership from James Cook University, Australian Graduate School of Management, University of NSW, and the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.

Career
Tegen was a partner in a sheep meat and wool, cattle trading and grain property in the Limestone Coast for 30 years.

Tegen worked for health organizations including the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmology (resigning in 2012), the Medical Technology Association of Australia (from October 2013), the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association, and the University of Adelaide Rural Clinical School.

She uses knowledge and expertise in partnerships, leadership, and public relations across multiple sectors to bridge the gap between rural and urban medical and related services access.

She has been recognized through awards including the South Australia Great Award in Medicine and Health (2009), the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) Rural Women's Award for South Australia (2009) and the Nokia Business Innovation Award at the Telstra SA Business Women's Awards.

Tegen is the Austrian Consul for South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Boards, committees and advisory roles
Tegen is a member of the Health Workforce Scope of Practice Review Committee and the National Rural Health Strategy Advisory with the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. She is a non-executive director of the Australian Orthopaedic Association, and represented the NRHA when Autism CRC (Australia) updated its National Guideline For the assessment and diagnosis of autism in Australia. In medical education, she had roles with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

Public speaking and media
As the CEO and primary spokesperson of the National Rural Health Alliance, Tegen gives her voice to rural and remote health, mental health, and the digital health divide. In 2023, she addressed the Australian Local Government Association's National General Assembly, the Rural & Remote Health Scientific Symposium, and the RAI Regions Rising National Summit.

Her ongoing contributions to publications and interviews include education around the disparity between country and city living, rural health funding, and the challenges faced by rural healthcare systems.