At Jenny's Early Learning Centre in Bendigo, there are between 40 and 50 people away a week because they have been classified as close contacts or need to isolate due to having COVID-19.
That number includes both staff and children at the centre.
The centre's managing director, Darren Reid, said balancing the number of staff and children away was an ongoing challenge across its five sites in Greater Bendigo.
"Up to 25 per cent of our workforce is being required to isolate," Mr Reid said.
He said accessing rapid antigen tests was crucial to keeping childcare centres open and, like most people and companies, early learning centres were struggling to find them.
"Our team have been working all hours of the day and night trying to access rapid antigen tests to ensure our team can be tested and are safe to be at work," he said.
Speechless about lack of support
Childcare centre staff have worked throughout the pandemic, enabling frontline healthcare workers to go to work.
But there was growing frustration that early childhood educators were not given the same protections despite working in close proximity to young children — who are last in line to be vaccinated.
"Our staff work with the most vulnerable children who cannot and do not have access to vaccines yet," Mr Reid said.
Mr Reid called for early childhood educators to be prioritised for booster shots.
"Our staff have been considered frontline workers, in our minds, for the past two or three years," he said.
"It'd be nice to see an acknowledgement that our team is essential, but also the peace of mind that they are safe and they can continue the important work they do."
'No plan for early childhood'
Federal Labor Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters has called for the federal government to implement four steps to support the early childhood sector.
The first, providing early educators with priority PCR testing and free rapid antigen tests.
"If a service like this has to close or reduce [the number of children in care] then nurses and healthcare workers may not be able to work," she said.
"The government says it has secured all these tests, well then they should then distribute them through their network to providers [like childcare centres]."
Ms Chesters also urged the federal government to ensure educators had access to pandemic leave, were prioritised for booster appointments, and for centres to have access to financial support if they had to close.
She said around 500 childcare centres across the country have had to close amid surging Omicron cases.
National framework on the way
A Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) spokesperson said, since the onset of the pandemic, the government had invested around $3.2 billion to support families and to keep childcare services viable and early childhood educators employed.
"Services can waive the gap fee until June 30 this year and still receive Child Care Subsidy (CCS) if a child is unable to attend care because of a variety of COVID-related reasons," the spokesperson said.
"This financial year, all Australian families can access 10 extra allowable absences per child — making for a total of 52, which can be used for any reason.
"As well, services can apply for a grant of up to $150,000 under the Community Child Care Fund Special Circumstances program to help them stay open."
Last week, National Cabinet agreed to a National Framework for Managing COVID-19 in Schools and Early Childhood Education and Care.
The DESE spokesperson said National Cabinet also agreed child care was a critical sector and would be included in close contact arrangements for essential workers in each state and territory.
"All governments are due to come back to National Cabinet this week to set out the practical implementation of this framework," they said.
"This will include detailed operational plans, such as mask-wearing and surveillance rapid antigen testing, including for teachers and educators."
