Lake Tyers resident and renowned health professional Therese Tierney has been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her distinguished service to the health sector.
Reflecting on her career, Ms Tierney expressed deep gratitude for her decades of service.
“I have found it a joy and a privilege to work within the health and associated sectors for all of my professional life,” Ms Tierney said.
“Receiving the Order of Australia Medal is quite humbling, and I hope this recognition provides a platform for others to better understand our rural communities — not just our challenges, but also how we add significant value to the broader community.”
Ms Tierney’s health career spans 50 years. She started as a nurse, moved into management in the 1980s, and became a chief executive officer in Melbourne in the 1990s, working across both the private and public sectors.
After falling in love with East Gippsland, Ms Tierney and her husband decided to make the region their permanent home. In 2007, she stepped into the role of CEO at Orbost Regional Health (ORH), serving for five years. During her tenure, ORH received the Premier’s Award for best rural health service two years in a row.
In 2012, she was appointed CEO of Bairnsdale Regional Health Service (BRHS), navigating a period of significant growth.
“Some highlights in that time was our ability to recruit a full workforce, adding a rebatable MRI to the services, updating some of the staff and patient spaces, and the maturing of our work in some areas of Aboriginal
health,” she said.
Following her retirement from BRHS in 2018, Ms Tierney transitioned into high-level governance. She joined the board of the Gippsland Primary Health Network (GPHN), serving as chair from 2017 to 2023, and will complete her current term as a director this November.
Her extensive board portfolio also includes serving on the board of Omeo District Health (2019–2022), chairing the Maryvale Private Hospital Board (2020–2025), and serving as a Ministerial Delegate to the Yarram
Health Board for two years.
In recent years, her expertise was called upon for the state’s future planning. She was appointed to the expert advisory committee that developed the Victorian Health Service Plan, released in April 2024.
“I believe I was there because of my understanding of rural and regional health, and I will always continue my advocacy for rural communities, so they are always considered in planning and policy development,” Ms Tierney said.
Today, Ms Tierney continues to give back heavily to the region and the state. She currently serves as the chair of East Gippsland Water (a role she has held since 2019), chair of VicWater (the peak body for the Victorian water industry), and deputy chair of the Board of Trustees of Calvary Ministries.
Ms Tierney will attend an official investiture ceremony at Government House in Melbourne later this year to receive her medal.
