Regional Victorians will miss out on new Commonwealth support for lockdowns lasting longer than seven days that align with federal hotspot definitions.
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The $500 temporary weekly payment will be made through existing disaster payment frameworks and will apply to those in Melbourne as the city is listed as a federal hotspot.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, at the announcement of the new measure, was asked about places like Mildura missing out.
"Regional Victoria is not going into a second seven days, metropolitan Melbourne is," he said.
"Where it comes to federal taxpayers' money ... then we'll be relying on the medical advice of the Chief Medical Officer.
"We're pleased that restrictions have been lifted on regional Victoria."
Mr Morrison said it was a similar arrangement to what exists in New Zealand, where payments kick in after 7 days.
Regional Victorians were also awaiting yesterday application details to access a Victorian government Circuit Breaker Business Support Package.
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Business Wodonga chairman Graham Jenkin said any support provided would be a "drop in the ocean" for businesses that were forced to close.
"For a restaurant, the amount they spend on power won't be covered by some of the grants," he said.
"The most important thing is getting businesses back up and running again."
In confirmed the easing of restrictions in regional areas flagged on Wednesday, Acting Premier James Merlino said he hoped to announce a further easing this time next week.
Mr Merlino said he "wasn't too worried" about Melburnians potentially heading to regional Victoria and said a "ring of steel" would not be implemented, with Victoria Police "agreeing" patrols were more effective.
On requiring regional businesses to check patrons weren't from Melbourne, he said: "It's very simple for businesses to say, 'Show us your driver's licence to show us you are living in regional Victoria'."
