Winners announced for inaugural BusSA Awards

Announced at the recent BusSA annual conference in Adelaide, the awards were created recognise and celebrate the excellence, passion and dedication of the bus and coach industry workforce in South Australia.

There were two main categories, Professional Driver and Young Achiever, which were presented by Jon Whelan, Ben Hood, Stephen Lucas and Craig Spurr at the conference held on May 17.

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Despite plenty of nominations jamming up BusSA’s inbox, Wayne Pearson from Eustice’s of Waikerie ultimately took home the Professional Driver award.

The Young Achiever award was split up into three winners, with Monique Poritz from Des’s Group and Luke Herriman from LinkSA both receiving the recognition for Young Achiever (Operations), while Oliver John from South Link took home Young Achiever (Apprentice).

Des’s Group took to social media to extend its congratulations to Poritz.

“This well-earned recognition celebrates Monique’s passion, dedication, and outstanding contributions to Des’s, particularly her work managing school contracts,” the statement reads.

“Her commitment to excellence and service continues to uplift our team and inspire those around her.”

While only in its first year, the success of the BusSA awards has not gone unnoticed, with plans for a 2026 iteration already underway.

“We’d like to express our sincere appreciation to the judging panel of Jim Scott and David Portlock who deliberated over the high quality nominations,” a BusSA statement reads.

“We look forward to continuing to celebrate the excellence and passion of the bus and coach industry in SA, we encourage all to start thinking of your nominations for 2026!”