IPWEA Fleet Innovation Award

This award aims to acknowledge and promote the outstanding achievements in the fleet management industry.

FIA header

IPWEA Fleet is thrilled to announce the creation of the Fleet Innovation Award, a prestigious recognition dedicated to honouring excellence and innovation in the fleet management industry.

This award has been established to celebrate organisations and individuals to encourage innovation and continuous improvement across the fleet community to promote efficient, effective and safety fleet management practices.

The Fleet Innovation Award will be presented each year at the annual IPWEA Australasian Fleet Conference.

Entries will open for the 2026 Fleet Innovation Award in November this year and the winner will be announced at the 2026 IPWEA Fleet Conference.

The purpose of the Fleet Innovation Award

The Fleet Innovation Award aims to acknowledge and promote the outstanding achievements in the fleet management industry, thereby setting higher standards for the future. This initiative will spotlight innovators and leaders who are shaping the industry through their dedication, creativity, and problem-solving capabilities.

Purpose of FIA

How to Apply

We invite all eligible candidates to submit their entries and showcase their innovations and contributions to the fleet management industry, through form supplied.

Suppliers can also nominate customers, with their approval, if they believe the organisation or individual has demonstrated innovation through a process of developing and implementing a creative idea.

The Fleet Innovation Award represents a significant step forward in recognising and promoting excellence in fleet management. We look forward to celebrating and honouring the industry's innovators and leaders, and to a future of continuous improvement.

Judging Criteria

The Fleet Innovation Award will be judged based on the following five criteria:

Demonstrates an innovative approach to a problem or issue.
Resulted in an improvement in effectiveness or productivity, client service or provision of services.
Demonstrates responsiveness to community/workplace/industry needs.
Presents as a best practice operating model which is transferable to other work areas.
Demonstrates a return on investment through triple/quadruple bottom line.

A representative from the organisation entering the Fleet Innovation Award must be present at the IPWEA Fleet Conference to accept the award.

2025 Winner – Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES)

Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) was named the winner of the 2025 Fleet Innovation Award for its visionary work on the Next Generation Heavy Rescue Truck (HRT). The project stood out for its bold departure from traditional procurement models, replacing supplier-led designs with a user-centred approach that prioritised operational needs, safety, and long-term fleet sustainability.

VICSES brought together volunteers, engineers, and external experts to completely redesign the rescue truck from the ground up. The result is a high-performing, future-ready vehicle featuring advanced technologies like Finite Element Analysis, 3D scanning, and durability testing. It also includes battery-powered tools, improved lighting, and ergonomic enhancements designed to improve volunteer safety and efficiency in emergency situations.

By taking full ownership of the design, VICSES gained the flexibility to adapt, improve and scale its fleet more effectively. This innovation is already delivering benefits through reduced maintenance costs, faster response times, and greater comfort and welfare support for its volunteers. The judges praised VICSES for setting a new benchmark in emergency service fleet design, and for showcasing what’s possible when creativity, collaboration, and practicality come together in fleet management.

2025 Award Winner

2024 Winner – Dubbo Regional Council

The winner of the inaugural IPWEA Fleet Innovation Award was Dubbo Regional Council for their submission which demonstrated how they have taken different approach to implementing telematics. 

Daniel Peterson, Manager Fleet and Depot Services at Dubbo Regional Council, accepted the award which was announced at the 2024 IPWEA Fleet Conference. .

“Our innovation is not a new technology but how that technology is utilised,” said Peterson. “Telematics have been around for many years, most councils have either dabbled in it, or considered implementing telematics but very few have implemented a system and manage it effectively.”

“Implementing and installing a system is only one of the steps. The most difficult part is gaining Executive buy-in by developing a bullet proof business case. But the most important part of the process is understanding the potential benefits and implementing a policy, systems and processes to capitalise on those benefits.”

2024 Award Winner

Innovation

What is Innovation?

It is the ability to apply creative thinking to:

convert ideas or situations into new, value-added products, services or processes
develop new uses for existing products or services

The innovation process consists of developing, applying, launching, advancing and managing the growth and maturity of creative ideas - something most of us do every day without realising it.

Everyone has the capacity to be innovative, and many people actively want to innovate and bring creative and new ways to bear on the problems or issues faced in their work by their organisation, their clients or stakeholders.

Innovation can be:

simple or complex improvements
the modification of an existing practice or the development and implementation of a new one.