More than one million casual workers without a one-year tie to their employer are set to miss out on $1500 a fortnight in coronavirus wage subsidies.
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Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter has rebuffed calls for broadening the federal government's $130 billion scheme to include casuals with links to multiple employers.
Under the JobKeeper program, coronavirus-hit businesses will receive a $1500 fortnightly payment to pass on to each employee for six months.
Six million workers are expected to receive the subsidies.
But unions and Labor are concerned 1.1 million casual workers will miss out because of the eligibility criteria.
Mr Porter ruled out relaxing the requirement for a regular attachment to an employer over 12 months, saying the ACTU's proposal was too broad.
"There has to be a line drawn," he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
Casuals not eligible for JobKeeper can apply for the $1100 fortnightly JobSeeker payment, which has been increased during the pandemic
Labor's industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke said casuals in construction, independent education, artists and musicians were among those set to miss out.
Mr Burke warned young people doing their job for pocket money could receive the subsidy while adults relying on their casual income could miss out.
Legislation will be debated in parliament on Wednesday as bureaucrats scramble to draft the laws.
The Morrison government wants to change the Fair Work Act to enable the temporary measures, but Labor and the unions fear dodgy companies could abuse the amendments.
Mr Porter suggested Labor's focus on the Fair Work Commission signalled the opposition would block the legislation.
"If you support only the Fair Work Commission making the $1500 payments lawful, you can't be supporting the bill, because the bill says it has to happen through the Fair Work Act," he said.
Mr Burke said the minister was trying to distract from a terrible decision to exclude some casuals by claiming the opposition intends to block the bill.
"This is hysterical and dishonest nonsense," he said.
"We have never once suggested we would hold up the passage of this wage subsidy."
To be eligible, a company's turnover must have fallen by at least 30 per cent because of the pandemic.
Businesses with annual turnovers of more than $1 billion must have suffered a 50 per cent fall, while charities will only need to have suffered a 15 per cent hit.
Mr Porter said the scheme was designed to keep workers linked to employers during a period of economic hibernation.
"This is parliament's Dunkirk moment. We get the life boats out and we save jobs," he said.
"We do it in the simplest, clearest, guaranteed formula that parliament can devise."
Australian Associated Press
