Opinion

Our future is in great hands

I recently attended my first student VET careers day for some time and what wonderful young people we had the pleasure to meet. 

The future is in great hands, they were all polite, focussed, helpful and engaged. Some already were laser-focussed on their career path and some had no idea what they wanted to do, and both of those things are totally ok. 

Some started the session very shy and nervous but found their voice and confidence after we played our Transport Women Australia Limited “Living the Dream” video and song. 

I was accompanied by TWAL governance director Di Caldwell-Smith and we talked about the varied roles in the industry, the salary expectations and gave them a practical exercise in “pick & pack” to complete. 

We spoke to them about training and related courses and that most training is on the job. We spoke to about 35 students throughout the event, and it was altogether a great experience. 

We have our Father’s Day Raffle running at the moment, tickets are available via Oktion, via this link https://oktion.com.au/event-details/459 and we would like to recognise our wonderful sponsors who have donated to this years’ raffle – Muscat Trailers, Lawrence Christoffelsz, Simone Reinertsen and RT Health, and Viva Energy Australia. The raffle will be drawn at 6pm AEST on Father’s Day.

The 2023 Driving the Difference scholarships are now open for application and application forms and criteria can be obtained by emailing to chair@transportwomen.com.au 

Now in its fifth year, this Daimler Truck Australia Pacific-backed TWAL program provides a unique opportunity for women in the transport and logistics industry and those wishing to enter the field.

Daimler Truck Australia Pacific’ continued support of this fantastic initiative allows TWAL to offer successful applicants the opportunity to undertake a course that will allow them to enhance their current role or advance their career within the transport and logistics industry. Applications are open to individual TWAL members or employees of corporate members. 

Applications will be accepted until October 31 and recipients will be announced on November 16 and certificates presented at EOY events in the state where the winners are based. 

Previous winners have been from the trucking, rail, and marine sectors, so have assisted a diverse group of women of varying ages. 

Planning on our end of year functions has been continuing, and we have some learning Initiatives Breakfasts coming up in September, we have our first Canberra breakfast for quite some time on September 27, with Brisbane and Sydney to be announced shortly.

We are looking for sponsorship for all these events, if you are interested in being involved, please contact events@transportwomen.com.au 

We have some sponsors and speakers signed on for our 2024 ‘Living the Dream’ conference. We also have a great programme in the process of completion and the conference will be in a new format on two full days starting with welcome drinks on the Thursday night and ending with an awards dinner on the Saturday night. 

For sponsorship enquiries, please contact chair@transportwomen.com.au or phone 0417422319. 

We will be bringing you the update very soon from the Transport Women Unite Red Ball and Dream Maker Awards at Alice Springs.

We have also nominated members in the Australian Freight Industry Awards, and the NatRoad Awards. I hope that we can add to the TWAL Superstars on our website.

  • Jacquelene Brotherton is chair of Transport Women Australia

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