In Mount Isa, it is understood parents could be on a waiting list for up to 18 months before securing a place in daycare for their child.

Local daycare manager Melissa Hodgett said while there were parents who believed Mount Isa needed more daycare facilities to shorten the waiting time, staffing the centres would be the main issue.

"You could build enough daycares in town to cater for every child, but you would have no staff to run it," Ms Hodgett said.

"There is a staffing shortage across the state and the country and nothing is being done to recognise this issue. All of the daycare centres in Mount Isa have staffing waivers in place because the regulations that the government have enforced are impossible. Time is spent every year or every six months renewing waivers because you need 50 per cent of your staff diploma qualified, it's nearly impossible to do that and your qualified Early Childhood Teacher for Kindergarten programs are even more scarce."

Ms Hodgett said a pay rise and training incentives would encourage more staff to enter the industry.

"Staff are underpaid for what they do and the amount of paperwork and regulations, they need to be paid more. They're educators, not babysitters and that's what people need to realise that we're actually educators," she said.

"It's quite expensive for people to actually enroll in every cluster that they do within their course they cost a lot of money. There is also substantial costs with becoming qualified, not just the fees for studying the course but also have to obtain your First Aid certificate, CPR certification and your Blue Card.

"To help ease the financial strain on staff entering the industry or working to become more qualified, there should be government initiatives, subsidies or waving of study fees to help curb this staffing shortage."

Ms Hodgett said there were logistical issues around local training initiatives and pathways.

"We have had great success with local students studying locally and working for local daycares. Unfortunately due to the government changing the coursework halfway through this year, the local high schools have not offered childcare coursework this year, so it will be another 12 months before any students become certified," she said.

"The TAFE also offers the course but were also holding off due to the new course being rolled out in July. The TAFE also doesn't have anyone here permanently teaching. So they fly out from Townsville once a month. However there are other online study options also."

Ms Hodgett said that if daycare centres close rooms or centres due to lack of staff, the knock-on effect to families and other industries would be huge.

"Our industry impacts other industries. If parents can't get their child into daycare, then they cannot go back to work. It's a huge knock on effect. We're like the glue that holds it all together," she said.

"A lot of teachers here have their kids in daycares, if they can't go to work then that has the impact on primary and secondary classrooms.

"If there is no recognition of staffing shortages, especially out here in the North West, nothing will change. It is already hard enough to attract staff to our industry when you're competing with bigger employers like the mines.

"So they need to seriously look at it. Of how to get staff and encourage and entice staff back into this industry."

For those parents who continue to search for a daycare for their child, the advice is "put your name down everywhere."

"Put your child's name down everywhere, even family daycares, as early as you can. You'll get different circumstances that might arise where the vacancies will be different to another centre's vacancies."

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