TANYA BUCHANAN
Chief Executive Director
Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ)
AuSAE Member: July 2015
What We Do
The TSANZ mission is to lead, support and enable all health workers and researchers who aim to prevent, cure and relieve disability caused by lung disease. TSANZ is the only Peak Body in Australia that represents all health professionals working in all fields of respiratory health and research.
TSANZ has a membership base of approximately 1500 individual members from a wide range of health and research disciplines. TSANZ is a leading provider of evidence based guidelines for the treatment of respiratory disease in Australia and New Zealand, undertakes a large amount of professional education and training, is responsible for significant research administration and coordinates an accredited respiratory laboratory program.
Number of Members
Approximately 1500.
Staff Size
6FTE.
Years in Association Management
4 years.
How I Got Into Association Management
Previous roles included advocacy and public health so it seemed like a natural progression to move into associations work.
What I Like About My Job
The thing about TSANZ as a membership organisation is that you come home every day energised and enthusiastic and totally committed to the important work our members do. Our members are totally committed to reducing the impact of respiratory disease. Did you know more than 3 in 10 Australians suffer from a chronic respiratory disease yet funding for respiratory research is woeful and there is no national framework to tackle the impact of respiratory ill health?
My Biggest Challenge
COPD and Lung Cancer are two of the top killers in Australia. These two conditions account for a massive amount of health spend but we struggle to get research funding to address these and many other illnesses. Occupational respiratory diseases are also largely over looked and Australia desperately needs a national register for reporting occupationally acquired lung disease. The recent experience in Queensland of black lung in coal miners is just one example of the need to address lung health nationally. So, our biggest challenges are research funding and developing a national framework or strategy to tackle respiratory health.
What I am most proud of at our Association
There are so many things that are great about TSANZ’s work. Our clinical guidelines make a very tangible difference to clinical care, our research programs are top notch (and if anyone wants to support research with funding they should feel free to contact me), our branches are totally volunteer led and they are active and engaged and delivering fantastic events and of course our education program is growing and becoming more and more in line with our member’s needs.
But ultimately it is the passion and commitment of our members that makes TSANZ such a vibrant and exciting place to be.
Favourite AuSAE Event
AuSAE lunches are always worth a visit as they provide great speakers and the opportunity to discuss ideas and to learn from colleagues in the membership space.
What I Want to Learn from other AuSAE Members
So many things... How do I get my online learning program working more efficiently, what developers do you use and are they fabulous, what are your stats for engagement with your AGMs and elections and how do you drive this? What does member retention look like in a professional body and can you grow numbers without losing engagement.
How AuSAE Has Helped Me
AuSAE provides the opportunity to reach out to members who have experienced similar challenges. The staff get access to relevant training and can build a network of peers as part of our membership.
Tanya can be reached at tanya.buchanan@thoracic.org.au.
For more information about Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand visit www.thoracic.org.au.
