Prime Minister Scott Morrison unveiled the plan on Thursday and intends to take it to state premiers at a National Cabinet meeting on Friday.

Bendigo workers who lost work - including those on casual contracts - might not be eligible because the payments would kick in once a lockdown extends past seven days.

"So the first seven days, they are matters entirely for state and territory governments, as they wish to provide support," Mr Morrison said as he outlined the proposal during a Canberra press conference.

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Many regional Victorian workers are expected to return to work as restrictions ease outside of Metropolitan Melbourne from midnight on Thursday.

They could miss out on week-by-week disaster payments of up to $500, depending on which areas are declared a "hotspot" by the Commonwealth's chief medical officer.

"Now that could be a particular suburb, defined by postcodes. It could be an entire metropolitan area as is indeed the case in the Melbourne metropolitan area right now," Mr Morrison said.

"Or even more broadly, if the chief medical officer was of the view that a hot spot encompassed an entire state jurisdiction."

Mr Morrison appeared to rule out regional Victorians getting the payments when asked who he envisioned would be eligible, suggesting the criteria would better align with Melbourne's lockdown restrictions.

He said it was up to the states to determine the nature and length of social distancing restrictions.

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Multiple Bendigo groups from industry advocates to union members have expressed concerns about workers caught up in the lockdown.

Some called earlier this week for JobKeeper to be reintroduced.

But the government instead opted for disaster relief payments because it believes they would be more flexible and take advantage of existing state and federal partnerships forged to deal with emergencies like fires and floods.

Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters blasted the decision to potentially leave regional Victorian workers out.

She said it was unfair to leave them out when many central Victorian businesses would not be fully operational next week.

"Take casual workers. There are many of them who are likely not going to have work next week because the trade simply won't be back to a point where businesses can bring them on," Ms Chesters said.

"Scott Morrison has been dragged kicking and screaming into stumping up for these payments by a State Labor government and he has made it as cheap as possible."

It is still unclear how the federal proposal would be paid for. Mr Morrison will discuss a potential 50-50 split between the Commonwealth and the states.

Payments to eligible Victorians could kick in from as soon as Tuesday and a phone number would be set up for people in affected areas.

Mr Morrison's proposal would be part of a national framework that he said would give the states certainty when making decisions about lockdowns.

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