TWA congratulates this year’s recipient of the Alice Anderson Award!
Last week, Kangan Institute’s Industry Excellence Awards were handed out at a gala event at Melbourne Showgrounds, where the transformative power of practical education was on full display. The evening celebrated students and apprentices whose dedication and skill are shaping not only their own futures, but the industries and communities around them.
The Alice Anderson Award is sponsored by TWA and recognises excellence in automotive trades. TWA Board Members Kit McMahon and Ashley Belteky were honoured to present the 2026 award to an outstanding and deserving recipient: Star Bux.
The award is named after Alice Elizabeth Foley Anderson (1897–1926), a pioneering Melbourne mechanic and entrepreneur who founded Australia’s first all-women motor garage, the Alice Anderson Motor Service. At a time when few doors were open to women in trades, Alice didn’t just walk through them, she built new ones for women who followed, championing women’s education in engine technology and supporting mechanics apprenticeships.
Her legacy continues to inspire. Today, women in automotive trades, like Star, are still breaking barriers, building thriving careers, and proving that talent has no gender. Importantly, stories like Star’s remind us why access to education, mentorship and support matters so deeply.
We congratulate Star Bux on receiving the 2026 Alice Anderson Award, and celebrate all the women who are reshaping the future of trades, one achievement at a time.
Image (l-r): TWA Board Member Kit McMahon, Mathew Wyatt, Training Institue Manager at CMV Truck & Bus, Star Bux, TWA Board Member Ashley Belteky