WOMEN IN TRUCKING AUSTRALIA
2024 TOOTS AWARDS LUNCH
Victoria Park Social Club, Adelaide
Saturday, 6th July 2024
12:30pm - 3:30pm
2024 Awards Event Partner
About the WiTA 2024 awards
Recognising Australian Female Heavy Vehicle Drivers
The Women in Trucking Australia (WiTA) annual Toots Awards celebrate and showcase the diversity and tenacity of the nation’s female heavy vehicle drivers. Join us for your opportunity to meet and hear stories from some of the inspirational women breaking down barriers across the road transport sector. The 2024 Toots Awards lunch follows the Camp Quality/WiTA Convoy for Kids and Family Festival in Victoria Park.
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Guest Speaker
Donna Vawdrey
Daughter of Toots Holzheimer
WiTA is delighted to pay homage to the legendary Toots Holzheimer, a female truckie who drove across Far North Queensland at a time when most freight came in by plane or barge. In a career that spanned four decades, from the 1960s to the 1990s, Toots drove from Cape York to Cairns and Weipa on dirt tracks through humid and mosquito infested rainforests. Over lunch, Donna, who penned ‘Toots – Woman in a Man’s World’, will share some incredible stories from her mother’s career - stories from an era when power steering, air-con, tarred roads and forklifts were the stuff of dreams!
Panel Speakers
Enjoy a facilitated panel discussion with four fabulous trucking ladies - each loving life on the road and working in specialised fields including heavy haulage, dangerous goods, livestock and remote area water drilling. Danyelle, Nat, Kattie and Chloe will share the ups and downs of life as a female truckie and the strategies they use for looking after their physical and mental wellbeing on the road. The girls will also share tips and advice for females considering a career as a professional heavy vehicle driver. The panel will be facilitated by Camp Quality Chief Executive Officer
Deborah Thomas, who is also one of Australia’s most successful and respected media executives.
Deborah Thomas
Deborah Thomas has managed some of Australia’s most popular magazine brands, including The Australian Women’s Weekly, where she was Editor-in-Chief for nine years.
Now CEO of Camp Quality, an organisation that raises funds for children experiencing a cancer diagnosis, Deborah says, “I am honoured and excited to work with Camp Quality and apply my skills and experience to such a worthy, trusted and important organisation.
Danyelle Haigh
Danyelle “Giddy Up” Haigh packs a lot into life – starring in popular TV series “Outback Truckers” for six seasons and Adventure All Stars for two episodes.
Now starring in 7Mate’s “Outback Farm,” Danyelle also regularly drives her pink Mack road-train in convoy with hubby Anthony across outback Australia with a governess and their two little ones drilling bores to bring lifesaving water to remote cattle stations.
Natalie Kascak
Nat Kascak is a gas tank driver doing runs from Adelaide to Darwin transporting dangerous goods. Across a 16-year career, Nat’s impressive body of work includes fuel tanker and quad work across WA’s Pilbara region.
Out on the road, Nat completed her paramedic degree while doing intrastate/interstate, work transporting general freight, fuel, iron ore and gas to remote and metro areas.
Kattie Risk
Kattie Risk is an Indigenous MC driver based in Darwin with over 14 years’ experience as a heavy vehicle driver.
Currently an outback cattle quad road train driver, she has worked in the mining, earthworks and general freight sector in a FIFO capacity, transporting everything from oversize hauls, livestock, fuel and machinery to remote and outback locations.
Kattie sits on the board of Durran Durra and has been a volunteer firefighter within her local community the past seven years.
Chloe Anderson
2023 WiTA Toots Award recipient, MC driver Chloe Anderson, is the first female heavy haulage operator at Dunstan’s Low Loader Haulage on the Gold Coast.
The pocket-sized 25-year-old regularly transports massive loads on 9,000km round trips across the Nullarbor.
Chloe’s biggest job to date was transporting a wind turbine top section from the Port of Brisbane to a wind farm in rural QLD. The load weighed in at 80 tonne, was 55m long and 4.6m wide. Chloe set off at midnight behind a Police Escort vehicle with front and rear pilots and a Jinker driver, and reached the destination at 6.00am the following morning.
Lyndal Denny
WiTA CEO Lyndal Denny’s focus sits firmly on providing training and employment opportunities for women looking to establish trucking careers.
Across an eleven-year heavy vehicle driving career, she has driven road trains in WA, SA, NSW, Victoria and across the top-end.
Lyndal is the recipient of the Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow for her extensive work in road safety, an Ambassador for OzHelp’s “Health in Gear” initiative, a BigRigs Columnist, an Executive Judge for the South Australian Community Achievement Awards and a regular guest speaker at industry events.
2024 Awards Partners
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WiTA Members
Enjoy the 2024 WiTA awards lunch at the member only price.
Not a WiTA Member?
Join Today!
Membership of WiTA is only $100 for 12 months and you can attend all WiTA events at member rates.
Non WiTA Members
You are welcome to join us for the awards lunch at the non member rate.
“Women are an integral part of the heavy vehicle industry, breaking barriers and paving the way for future generations. Through our Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative, the NHVR is proud to support the Women in Trucking Association’s (WiTA) Foot in Door program. As a female heavy vehicle driver training and recruitment initiative, this program is removing barriers and providing employment opportunities for women seeking to establish a career as a truckie”.
~ Sal Petroccitto OAM | CEO NHVR
Why join WiTA?
Women in Trucking Australia (WiTA) is the peak body for Australian female heavy vehicle drivers - driving equality and shaping the future of female participation in the industry. Our purpose is to encourage more women into HV driving careers by dismantling barriers to entry, providing training and employment opportunities and promoting a culture of safety, diversity and inclusion.
What we do
Promote female awareness, interest and participation in the heavy vehicle industry.
Engage with government and industry stakeholders to improve training and employment opportunities for female drivers.
Connect newly licensed female drivers with experienced mentors.
Foster a safe and inclusive culture where female drivers can thrive.
Advocate to government and industry stakeholders on behalf of female HV drivers.
Becoming A WiTA member helps us to improve career opportunities and conditions for female heavy vehicle drivers. We connect you with the community and resources you need to thrive in your career as a professional driver.
About The 2024 WiTA Toots Awards
Driving Diversity
The WiTA Toots awards are designed to celebrate and promote female participation in the heavy vehicle driving industry. The awards will be presented at WiTA’s awards lunch hosted at Adelaide’s stunning Victoria Park Social Club 12.30pm-3.30pm on Saturday 6 July 2024.
Female workforce participation is estimated at just 3% of the national heavy vehicle driver cohort. WiTA believes that increasing the number of female heavy vehicle drivers is essential to productivity, growth and innovation in the Australian trucking industry. A more gender-diverse workplace facilitates a colourful mosaic of perspectives, values, and beliefs and becomes a long-term asset to forward-thinking businesses. There are also enormous benefits to be had for businesses who encourage female participation in the workplace.
Please nominate someone you think deserves the awards. Self-nominations are welcome. All nominations will be referred to the WiTA Toots awards judging committee for consideration and final selection of winners.
Applications Close: Thursday 20 June 2024.
Toots Awards Categories
Nomination Forms
Female Driver of the Year
This award recognises a female heavy vehicle driver who demonstrates leadership and responsibility, creates change and who has a proven record of competency and acts as a role-model/ mentor to female heavy vehicle drivers and women considering trucking careers.
Diversity & Inclusion Award
This award recognises an individual, group, or organisation that promotes and facilitates female workplace diversity and inclusion by establishing a culture that recognises, encourages, listens to, and supports female heavy vehicle drivers in a male-dominated work environment.
Safety Award
This award recognises individuals, groups, or organisations that promote and facilitate female heavy vehicle driver training and recruitment initiatives and the provision of workplace health and safety and wellbeing support networks.
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