And, despite having her on the waitlist of every childcare centre in town, and her priority status as a foster child, Emma faced the prospect of being sent to yet another family when a place still hadn't come up after 12 months.

"I had to take two full weeks off work. Every spare second of my day I was just ringing up and begging everyone in town like 'please can you do something,'" Jen said.

Eventually, Emma was accepted into a centre which gave her a place despite usually catering for kids aged three and up.

"They're our saving grace because I don't know what we would have done...she would have ended up going to another foster placement [which is] considered to be a traumatic experience."

"She's still under three and we still haven't heard back from any of the other daycare centres."

Jen and Emma's story is all too common in Katherine and regional towns across the country, where many parents and carers are unable to get their kids into childcare.

More features:

Save the Children's Katherine Regional Manager, Bev Patterson, said the families of kids ages zero to two in town are currently facing two-year waitlists for childcare.

"Which is obviously way outside pregnancy time. So, you've really got to have a crystal ball to register that far in advance," she added.

She said the staffing shortage in the town, which is impacting all of Katherine's industries, is a major contributing factor to the problem.

"The childcare centres are really doing the very best that they can but it comes down to staffing," she said.

"They're all struggling to get staff to be able to deliver what they would have done pre-COVID."

Ms Patterson said the lack of childcare is putting enormous strain on families, who are already feeling the pressure.

"Because a lot of people in Katherine don't have other family here, who might step up, they're just stuck between a rock and a hard place..." she said.

"It means financially, what they projected would happen and how they budgeted et cetera is all out the window. And that puts immense strain on families [who] don't need any more financial pressure."

"It's a constant topic of conversation and people are really, really struggling with what to do that there isn't an answer for them."

Preschool teacher and now Director at Katherine's Clyde Fenton Long Day Care, Monique Boyle, said a lack of childcare in Katherine was an issue that existed long before COVID, prompting her and Clyde Fenton Primary School principal Jeff Parker to open the centre in early 2020.

The centre, which caters to kids aged three to five, operates within the school's preschool building and is governed by the school's council.

"We wanted to open it earlier...it was quite a lot of hoops to jump through because what we're doing is unique and I think we're the only one in the NT to do it. So it took about a year to get all that through, and we opened in 2020. And then COVID hit," she said.

"We had two children enrolled and we had no possibility of getting any more because everything was shut down...we kept running with two kids anyway at a big financial loss but because we knew this town desperately needs childcare and we will come out of COVID."

Despite having spaces available for the three to five age group, Ms Boyle said there was still a shortage of capacity for younger kids.

"[We] thought that if we take the three year old market...it reduces the ratios in the three to five and then those educators can be freed up to take zero to two," she said.

"But if you have a look at the childcare regulations, one educator per four babies is what it is...you're asking for a lot of qualified staff in this town at the moment. We just don't have it."

She said the centre provides opportunities to upskill existing staff for free and takes on trainees from Katherine High School as ways to fill the gaps.

More news:

"I've been really lucky that as a school we've been in a position to upskill staff that come to us with no qualification. We've been able to offer people their certificate three in education and care, free of charge, because we're that desperate to get people and I know it's the case with a lot of other centres too."

Ms Patterson said there was no silver bullet to fixing child care shortages in rural and remote towns, but that both levels of government need to work with communities to find solutions that work for them.

"I don't think it's something that there's a miraculous cure for. I think it's something that takes a long- term commitment to getting right and an open door policy where people can be heard and action can be taken from that."

NT Education Minister Lauren Moss said in a statement that this work was already underway.

"The Department of Education continues to work with the sector to develop strategies to grow and retain these essential service staff," she said.

"The Territory Labor Government is investing in the early years by expanding Families as First Teachers sites and funding 600 hours of four-year-old preschool as well as trialling three year old preschool.

"The NT Government continues to advocate to the Federal Government for universal free childcare to better support families, continuously improve access and affordability of child care for NT families. Childcare services are operated by non-government providers and are driven by market factors such as demand for services and availability of suitably qualified staff."

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Katherine Times, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling your stories. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great area.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY?: Send letters to the editor or story tips to editor.kathtimes@austcommunitymedia.com.au