Australians locked down because of COVID-19 will receive the same federal help no matter where they live under a plan to be presented to national cabinet.
Scott Morrison announced the decision as Victorian officials consider a fifth lockdown, which would put the nation's two biggest states in quarantine.
The prime minister on Thursday said he was not aware what Victorian planned to do, but it's understood a lockdown could be be reinstated from midnight.
"They should be a last resort, but sometimes with the Delta variant you come to that position a lot more quickly than you used to," Mr Morrison said.
He will on Friday propose to national cabinet that all federal help for any state or territory follow the pattern of the package currently offered to Sydney.
It follows accusations from Victoria's Labor government the prime minister was giving the NSW's Liberal leadership special treatment.
Employees who have lost at least 20 hours of work a week will be given $600, while those who have lost less than 20 hours will get $375.
The payments will kick in from the second week of a lockdown, paid in arrears to the start of the restrictions, and the liquid assets test won't be applied.
Eligible businesses can access weekly payments of between $1500 and $10,000.
They must show a 30 per cent fall in turnover and agree not to cut staff, while sole traders can access $1000 a week.
The federal government will turn the tap off when restrictions ease or the area is no longer a nationally recognised hotspot.
Victoria is readying to announce a lockdown after racking up 16 infections linked to the Sydney outbreak.
NSW has reported 65 additional cases and Sydney's lockdown will continue until at least July 30.
Under pressure over the country's troubled vaccine rollout, the prime minister sought to shift blame to the national expert medical panel.
The government is also making progress on getting mRNA vaccines made locally, with an approach-to-market process closing on Friday.
"The issue still remains that the IP (intellectual property) is held by Pfizer and by Moderna," Mr Morrison said.
There's currently a glut of locally made AstraZeneca because of expert medical advice it be preferred for over 60s.
This was because of the risk of rare but potentially fatal blood clots linked to AstraZeneca.
But Sydney's situation meant ATAGI again updated its advice, saying younger people in outbreak areas should consider the AstraZeneca jab if Pfizer wasn't available.
The recommended wait time between AstraZeneca doses was also cut from 12 weeks to between four and eight.
Labor deputy leader Richard Marles said the government was "making it up as they go along", and the problems would not have arisen had the vaccine rollout and quarantine systems been done properly.
© AAP 2021