The Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to abandon a "ridiculous proposal" to reportedly offer cash payments to vulnerable Australians to buy rapid antigen tests from stores.

Mr Morrison is expected to take a proposal to national cabinet today for pensioners and low-income earners to apply for money to help them buy their own rapid antigen tests, according to The Australian.

The Prime Minister's Office would not confirm the specific details, but acknowledged national cabinet is due to discuss payments for rapid tests later today.

Mr Albanese said the proposal was convoluted, and it was time for the tests to be made free for anyone who wanted one.

"It is very clear the simplest and most cost-efficient way is to make tests free and available."

"It's clear that the costs of tests are dwarfed by the costs of inaction."

Mr Morrison this morning said rapid testing was free when required by the states, but he would seek to reduce costs for optional tests for some Australians.

"Peace of mind tests where people are seeking to get them over and above what the essential requirements are, I'll be putting a proposal to the premiers and chief ministers today, how we can offset the cost for those who are on Commonwealth seniors healthcare cards and things of that nature," he said.

"We'll be talking through those issues today, as well as improving the access and supply of rapid antigen tests."

Mr Morrison's proposal comes after days of nationwide anger at a testing system that has struggled to cope with an explosion of COVID-19 cases as the nation reopened and the Omicron variant spread.

Some testing sites have reached capacity almost as soon as opening, with people queued for hours for a PCR test that then took days to return a result.

As people turned to rapid antigen testing kits, retailers quickly ran out of stock, while a handful sold the tests at inflated prices.

The Prime Minister said today that 160 million rapid antigen tests were "on their way" to Australia, to arrive in coming weeks.

States going their own way to offer free rapid tests

On Monday, Mr Morrison resisted making the tests free for all, saying the nation was in a new phase of the pandemic "where we just can't go round and make everything free".

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, however, today said he was prepared to spend whatever was needed on rapid testing.

"There [is] no dollar figure we will not put on the table to ensure as we move through this next phase that rapid antigen tests are available to anybody right across the state who needs one," Mr Perrottet said.

"The Prime Minister has spoken about those in more vulnerable cohorts, concession card holders, we will provide that support."

Victoria and Queensland's premiers have also said their states would hand out free rapid tests through testing centres as kits arrive in the coming days.

The tests have been free to people required to take one as part of their isolation requirements, but unions and community groups asked for the government to make rapid tests free to anyone who wants one, similar to schemes overseas.

Public Health Association of Australia CEO Terry Slevin said rapid tests were a health product, not a consumer good, and should be made free for all.

"We cannot diminish the incredible work of our public health and healthcare workers across the continent by letting market forces decide who can afford to get and use RATs during this health emergency," he said.

Labor joins call for free tests for all

Today Mr Albanese said Labor supported the call for tests to be made free for all through Medicare.

"We have considered the options and it is clear that this is the simplest, most efficient, fairest and most responsible way to fix the mess," Mr Albanese said.

"We are prepared to work with the government to determine the best way to provide free tests through the Medicare system.

"They should abandon their ridiculous proposal of providing funding for people who are left on their own to go out and secure tests."

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) today said that rapid antigen tests should be free for wide distribution, with priority given to vulnerable cohorts.

"Making the tests free is the only way to guarantee those that need them get them," RACP's president-elect Jacqueline Small said.

"Tests have been made freely available in the [United Kingdom] and other countries and we encourage the Australian government to do the same." 

Asked whether Australia should be following schemes in the UK, Singapore and New Zealand to offer free rapid tests for all, Mr Morrison responded that the scheme was causing "significant problems" in the UK, and that Singapore and New Zealand were much smaller countries.

"More broadly across the world, that is not what all the countries are doing," he said.

"What we're focused on is ensuring the tests are there for those who need them for health reasons."

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.

Watch

Duration: 3 minutes 15 seconds3m 15s

Loading form...