For North Queensland mum Wendy Tate, juggling the demands of parenthood with a full-time job as a project manager is a balancing act.
Key points:
- A north Queensland mother says she's been unable to find vacation care for her two sons over the summer
- Many families are struggling to find programs that will accept their children these holidays as demand for care services rises
- Workforce shortages are being cited as the key reason that some parents are being turned away or left on waiting lists
Like many other working parents, she often turns to vacation care during the school holidays.
But this year, Ms Tate said she will be forced to take time off work because she is unable to find vacation care for her sons Saxon, 11, and Ryder, nine.
"As soon as those vacation care bookings are open, you need to jump on it extremely quickly. If you do not, you will miss out," she said.
The option she had used up until now, a service offered at her children's primary school, is unavailable to her oldest son now that he has finished year 6.
She said it had left her in a tricky situation.
"The work that I do, it's just not something that I can be missing from the office for it … it moves quite quickly every day," Ms Tate said.
"Even a day out of the office can be big for me."
But Ms Tate said many parents had been left without a choice.
"No-one I've spoken to is comfortable leaving an 11-year-old at home on their own during the holidays," she said.
"[My son] is not yet 12, and I'm not comfortable leaving him at home for three weeks straight."
Demand for vacation care on the rise
Ms Tate is not alone.
Kylie Brannelly is the CEO of the Queensland Children's Activities Network (QCAN), which represents the state's OSHC sector, as well as the chair of the National Outside School Hours Services Alliance (NOSHSA).
Ms Brannelly said many parents were unable to access vacation care services this year as demand continued to rise post-COVID.
"The trajectory of growth in outside school hours care does continue and we have ongoing increases in demand for care in the sector," she said.
"In some areas, particularly areas where there's a high demand for care, I would say we have families on a weekly basis struggling to get a place in either outside school hours care or vacation care.
"We do see families, unfortunately, turned away from care from time to time."
Ms Brannelly said it was a national issue.
"In other parts of the country, there are similar experiences to what we have here in Queensland, there is an increasing demand for care that is not able to be met by the current workforce," she said.
Igor Merkin is the chief operating officer for Camp Australia, a major national vacation care provider, and he said the demand for their services was on the rise.
There's been a 7 per cent increase in national bookings and a 10 per cent growth in demand in Queensland, according to their latest report measuring the upcoming summer holidays against the previous year.
"I think there are a number of factors," Mr Merkin said.
"I think parents are looking for services that provide that balance between finding enjoyment, an ability to learn new skills, and to experience new activities."
Mr Merkin said it could also be connected to rising living costs, with some parents potentially having to work more.
"I also think we're seeing across the board where parents are working longer or potentially taking less leave, especially during these holiday periods," he said.
Staff shortages run deep
Mr Merkin said while Camp Australia would like to offer more services, staff shortages remained the biggest barrier to expansion.
In the Mackay region, for example, Camp Australia was only able to offer one program, which accommodates about 70 children, as there were not enough staff available to open a second program.
"We've got the ability to open more services if we have the staff to support that," Mr Merkin said.
"Our biggest focus at the moment is to try to recruit."
Ms Tate said a nationwide strategy was needed to bring more workers to the sector and allow more parents to access vacation care.
"We need investment, we need governments to recognise that support is required," she said.
"And we really, really need a strategy that helps educators or potential educators learn about the opportunity for work in outside school hours care, and a strategy to help us recruit and retain people so that we can get the best quality people working with young people."