National Champions. We’ve framed the letter.

A letter arrived this week that we’ve read more times than we’d like to admit.

ARC Staff has won the 2026 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Award in our category, earning National Champion status at the Small Business Champion Awards 2026, presented by Precedent Productions. The awards recognise Australian small businesses for service quality, industry excellence and their contribution to the community.

Steve Loe, Managing Director of Precedent Productions, wrote that the win celebrates “the journey you have taken.” So we thought we’d share a bit of that journey.

On the night

Our Managing Director, Monique Bellew, and our Sales Manager, Jacqueline Scholtens, attended the awards and represented ARC Staff on the night. For Monique, the award recognises the team, clients and candidates who have helped shape ARC since day one.

Where it started

Our Managing Director, Monique Bellew, opened ARC Staff, the Australian Recruitment Company, in 2019.

We started in Victoria with a small team and a handful of local clients. Clients told other clients. Today we operate across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and, as of 2026, South Australia, where we secured our labour hire licence.

Our clients speak to the same person each time they call, and we plan to keep it that way.

A big couple of years

This award caps off a run we’re proud of.

In 2025, the Australian Achiever Awards named us national winner in the Consultancy, Training and Employment Services category. In 2026, the same program named us Highly Recommended, giving us two years of national recognition in a row.

Our 482 On-Hire Labour Agreement with the Department of Home Affairs moved from approved to operating. We’ve filled all 20 government-allocated positions, and the Department has approved a Deed of Variation to lift our visa ceiling further. Few businesses our size hold an active agreement like this one, and we don’t take that trust lightly.

The people who made it happen

Our workforce spans 45 nationalities. Some of our crew are backpackers on their first Aussie job. Others have worked with us for years. We keep 80 percent of our staff, in an industry where people come and go.

We also partner with Max Employment, Wise and AtWork Australia to help people with disabilities find supported, meaningful work.

Our clients notice the difference. After a recent placement, Az Gemelli, Administration Manager at QEH, sent us this:

“Just got feedback regarding a couple of your workers… Kane and Fernando. Both great guys and great workers. Please let them know too.”

Kane and Fernando, consider yourselves told.

Showing up off the clock

We’ve supported our community every year since 2019, and 2026 kept the tradition going:

• We hosted Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea for the Cancer Council, and the team finished among the top fundraisers in the country.
• We spent a day at the Job Readiness Boot Camp at Chisholm in Berwick, working with 18 to 25 year olds taking their first steps into work.
• We sponsored a local cricketer for the season.
• We recycle our cans and donate the proceeds.
• Monique co-facilitated Fresh Networking sessions for local business owners.

We’d keep doing all of it whether anyone gave out awards or not. We’ll admit the trophy helps.

Thank you

To our crew: you earned this on every early start and every long shift.

To our clients: thanks for trusting us with your rosters and your busiest days.

To Precedent Productions: thank you for the recognition. We’ve accepted the invitation to enter the 2027 Awards. Title defence, anyone?

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