Labor's Linda Burney calls for Jobkeeper to be brought back

Currently, people who lose work in Commonwealth-designated hotspots can access weekly payments of between $375 and $600 when lockdowns extend beyond seven days.

Ms Burney said Prime Minister Scott Morrison should ensure workers receiving social security part payments aren't left worse off under the COVID-19 disaster payment.

"Many Australians are still confused about what support is available," she said.

"In particular, Australians who were working part-time or casually, while receiving social security part-payments, before the lockdowns."

Labor says a single worker on JobSeeker, with no children and who pays rent, the full payment comes to $385.20 per week - compared to the upper Covid Disaster Payment of $600.00.

Labor claims workers on JobSeeker could be $214.80 worse off - or almost $300 worse off if they don't receive Commonwealth Rent Assistance.

"It shouldn't be this hard or confusing," Ms Burney said.

"Australian workers should not be left worse off because of a confusing and broken bureaucracy. If a worker is entitled to a higher payment, they should receive it automatically.

"People should not have to jump through hoops to get the assistance they have been promised. Workers should also be given an iron-clad guarantee that they will not have to serve a social security waiting period after receiving the COVID-19 Disaster Payment.

"Scott Morrison has botched the vaccine rollout; botched quarantine; prematurely cut JobKeeper and botched support for workers and businesses - and now more than 13 million Australians are bearing the brunt of his failures."

Mr Morrison said Jobkeeper wouldn't be brought back.

"You solve the problem with the policy responses that you need in front of you. I'm not trying to solve last year's problem - that's what JobKeeper solved," he said.

"We need to be able to turn this on and turn it off quite quickly, and with the method, we've chosen, we are able to do that."