More than 500 childcare centres in Australia were closed on Friday due to staff-shortages, with over 100 in Victoria alone, up from 38 one week ago, including a number in Ballarat. State-wide, 60 per cent of childcare centres were operating at reduced capacity.

The closures have, in turn, exacerbated existing workforce shortages across all sectors of the economy.

To address the growing crisis, national cabinet relaxed COVID-19 isolation requirements for childcare workers this week, allowing them to return to work as close contacts provided they returned a negative result on a rapid antigen test.

But the policy shift has attracted criticism in several quarters, not least from local childcare providers who anticipate the change will have minimal impact in the absence of readily available rapid antigen tests.

Rachel Condon, regional manager of the Brady Bunch Early Learning Centre in Delacombe, said the desired effect of the policy change would not be met unless early learning centres received priority access to free rapid antigen tests.

"Finding a rapid antigen test is like finding a needle in a haystack," Ms Condon said.

"If staff can't access the rapid antigen tests, they can't get tested, so they can't return to work."

It's a view shared by Niki O'Malley, manager of Kidscape Early Learning Centre Ballarat, who said it was obvious the sector should be given free rapid antigen tests and priority access to PRC testing.

"Something needs to be done so we can come to work knowing, because we've had a test, that we're safe and not a threat to the children or our colleagues," Ms O'Malley said.

"We all want to come to work, but not at the risk of infecting someone else and spreading the virus."

Ms Condon said childcare workers also needed to be prioritised in the booster vaccine program, a view backed by a chorus of childcare advocates and union bodies.

Citing the unique nature of childcare work, which unavoidably involves a degree of close physical contact, Ms Condon pointed out early learner educators were particularly vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 from the children in their care - who are not old enough to be vaccinated - and thereby bringing the virus home to their families as well as the wider community.

"Not a day goes by where you don't get sneezed on or coughed on by a child," Ms Condon said. "It's not as though we can socially distance everyone - we're there to care for and educate the children."

"But all the staff [tell me] they're afraid of spreading the virus to their family or friends - they say that every single day."

Helen Gibbons, early education director of the United Workers Union, described national cabinet's decision to ease isolation requirements for childcare workers as a public policy failure which privileged short-term gains for the economy over the safety of workers and the children in their care.

"Educators should not be pressured into returning [to work] under this new scheme," Ms Gibbons said. "It's ridiculous that an educator who is classified as a close contact is deemed safe to care for little children but not safe to do their shopping."

"Rapid antigen tests must be free and accessible for all educators, with clear and consistent testing, tracking and isolating protocols and procedures to manage staff shortages.

"Educators have a right to be safe at work and are committed to keeping the children in their care safe."

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