Northern Territory’s most in-demand suburbs for childcare revealed

Demand for daycare has surged as childcare staff vacancies hit a record high. See a full list of which Territorian suburbs are most impacted.

Exclusive: Childcare waiting lists are growing longer as working parents flock back to the office – but many centres are now struggling to find staff due to “no jab, no job’’ rules.

Demand for daycare has surged since Covid-19 lockdowns were lifted last month, exclusive data reveals.

Australian Childcare Alliance vice-president Nesha Hutchinson warned that Covid-19 vaccination mandates would worsen staff shortages.

She estimated that 5 per cent to 10 per cent of staff are refusing to be vaccinated and will be unable to work in day care centres.

Australian Childcare Alliance NSW president Nesha Hutchinson. Picture: Supplied

Ms Hutchinson said many older workers, at the highest risk of Covid-19 illness, had quit the childcare sector during the pandemic.

“A number of educators aren’t exempt (from the jab mandate) but have chosen not to be vaccinated,’’ Ms Hutchinson said.

“We don’t know who’s going to turn up (for work).

“That means the workforce is at capacity and there are centres that have a cap on the number of children they are able to provide care for because they don’t have enough educators on the ground.

“Getting staff on the ground is at a premium across the country, so supply (of places) is lower than demand as people are going back to work.’’

Eight of Australia’s 10 most in-demand suburbs for childcare are in NSW, exclusive data from childcare comparison site CareforKids reveals.

As working parents head back to work in inner-city offices, Alice Springs – which is home to 17 centres and parents charged an average daily fee of $91 – tops the NT’s most in-demand suburbs.

Katherine – with its 10 centres and average daily fee of $86.71 – came in second. while Nightclif in Darwin's northern suburbs came in third. It has nine centres and parents are charged an average daily fee of $97.67.

Care for Kids chief marketing officer Lauren Simpson said many parents who had worked from home during the pandemic were now searching for childcare.

“A lot of parents couldn’t access childcare due to lockdowns, or chose to keep their kids at home,’’ she said.

“Many parents were juggling family and work from home, but now they’ve started to go back to the office.

“Childcare is back on the agenda.’’

Ms Simpson said most parents sought childcare close to home or the office, to avoid an extra commute to collect children afterwork.

“Now that people are working more and more from home, it will be interesting to see if that changes,’’ she said.