Western Australia is in the midst of a child health nurse crisis with figures showing there is just one child health nurse for every 1000 children under the age of six.

Figures show there are 198 full-time equivalent child health nurse positions and another 105 child health nurses are needed over the next five years to avoid a major shortfall.

There have been three parliamentary inquiries into the state’s child health services since 2009 and a damning Auditor-General’s report found just 30 percent of 18-month-olds and nine percent of three-year-olds were receiving their recommended checks.

The report also found there had been a 12 percent rise in the birth rate between 2005 and 2008 but there was no matching increase in the number of child health nurses.

Auditor General Colin Murphy stated the disparity meant children were missing out on key health checks in their early developmental years.

"Health is giving priority to the first four checks and it is reaching 99 percent of newborns in the first month in the metropolitan area but this is at the expense of other checks," he stated.

The figures come as a 2009 standing committee report noted the child health nurse workforce was ageing.

"The average age of community nurses is increasing and in 2006 was 54 years, with 92 percent over the age of 40," it stated.

Labor’s Early Childhood Years spokesperson Linda Savage called on the WA Government to allocate more funds in this year’s budget for child health nurses.

"Missed health checks can mean the failure to detect developmental or other issues at this early stage," she said.