The Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) is pleading for help for charities to access protective equipment and rapid antigen tests (RATs), saying their members are spending millions to get supplies.
QCOSS wrote to Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk more than a week ago asking for a grants fund to be established immediately to allow community organisations to buy masks, RATs and backfill sick staff.
It has also asked for some of the state's supply of RATs to be allocated to community organisations.
QCOSS chief executive Aimee McVeigh said there was "significant distress" in the sector.
"These people are going out every day to help single mums, people with a disability, older people, people experiencing homelessness and they don't have what they need to keep their workforce safe and to keep the people they work with safe," she said.
"They're currently unable to access rapid antigen tests, they don't have enough staff and some of them don't even have access to masks."
"We really understand there are huge demands on workforce all across the state … but what we need is a plan."
'Being left behind'
Ms McVeigh said community services were facing huge demand while also relying on older volunteers and struggling with under-resourcing.
"These workers are people who are used to dealing with crisis, who are hardworking and willing to roll up their sleeves and move mountains for their communities and they're being left behind," she said.
'Really big impact'
Gina Dann, regional operations manager for St Vincent de Paul Central Queensland, said it was the shortage of its workers and volunteers was "having a really big impact".
"We have struggled to get rapid antigen tests for our volunteers and staff in those areas," she said.
"[This] then flows onto how many of our volunteers will actually turn up, because they don't want to be the one that comes into one of the centres and brings COVID with them.
"So they will more so choose to stay home rather than come in."
'Volunteer numbers dropping off'
Ms Dann said its Rockhampton distribution centre would normally have about 10 volunteers working there.
"Last Friday afternoon we had two — one of those was a paid staff member and one was a volunteer — so it's having a really big impact," she said.
"We've seen the numbers dropping off — I don't see that there'll be improvement any time soon.
"We have COVID plans in place at every one of our centres, we have hand sanitisation, we do daily cleaning, so they're a safe environment to come into."
Volunteer 'two hours a week'
Ms Dann said the distribution centre in Rockhampton would have to close "periodically" to try and catch up with all the donations it had received amid the volunteer and staff shortage.
"It becomes a workplace health and safety issue — we can't get on top of [the donations]," she said.
Ms Dann said people who could volunteer one or two hours a week would "make such a difference".
"We'd love to see younger people come in — it's a very fulfilling experience.
"If you've got to delay going back to school or delay going back to uni, come in and just do a couple of hours a week and we'd really appreciate it.
"A lot of our volunteers are in that age group where they're looking after their grandchildren on school holidays and … we are going to feel the impact of that as well."
'Huge amount' of RAT supplies coming in
The ABC has contacted Ms Palaszczuk's office for comment.
Ms Palaszczuk was asked on Friday at a press conference whether the state government would consider giving RATs to any other services apart from health staff.
