Federal Labor has been accused of playing "cheap politics" after claiming Liberal electorates were prioritised for flood assistance.
Staff from Services Australia have been deployed to many evacuation centres in Queensland to help people apply for financial support.
In previous natural disasters, Services Australia has waited until recovery centres were set up before sending staff.
However, due to the extent of damage this time around, staff have been deployed earlier and sent to evacuation centres under the guidance of the state government.
Federal Labor has questioned why most of the staff are in Coalition-held seats.
"We have been asking for Services Australia teams to be in our communities," Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers told RN Breakfast.
"Unfortunately, they have been disproportionately sent to other communities and this is troubling.
"And we have raised our concerns with the government both publicly and privately about that."
But Government Services Minister Linda Reynolds said the locations were determined by state authorities and not the federal government.
"It's disappointing to see Labor playing cheap politics while we're focused on the disaster response," Senator Reynolds said in a statement.
"Attendance by Services Australia is co-ordinated with those state authorities."
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said it was inappropriate to suggest politics was involved.
"It is ridiculous to think that we would differentiate one Australian from another Australian in how we help them," Mr Joyce said.
Services determined by Queensland government
Services Australia General Manager Hank Jongen said the agency does not make the final call on where staff are sent.
"It's important to understand that Services Australia doesn't make decisions in relation to the location of evacuation or recovery sites," he told the ABC.
"Those decisions are made by state authorities and once they are made, as soon as it's safe to do so, we move staff into those locations."
He said that Services Australia "effectively" waits for an invite from the state government.
"We work very closely with state and local authorities," he said.
Services Australia staff have already been deployed to 11 centres across Queensland and the majority are in Coalition-held seats where evacuation centres have been established.
The federal Opposition argued that as of yesterday, no staff had been sent into the Labor-held seats of Rankin, Moreton and Griffith.
However, they did not acknowledge that Liberal seats, such as Brisbane and Ryan, do not have Services Australia staff deployed there yet either.
The situation across Queensland is constantly changing and more Services Australia staff are expected to be sent to different areas in the coming days as further evacuation and recovery centres are set up and floodwaters subside.
Some will attend the Logan Metro Sports Centre today, which is in the electorate of Labor's Jim Chalmers.
Milton Dick, who is the Labor federal member for Oxley, sent a direct request for Services Australia staff and a team is being sent to a local community hub because there are no evacuation centres in his electorate.
In New South Wales, staff from Services Australia have visited recovery centres in Kingscliff, Banora Point and Goonellabah and the agency is awaiting further advice from Resilience NSW as to where additional staff should be deployed.
Mr Jongen said people could apply for disaster grants online but if that was not possible, there were other ways to get assistance.
"I also need to make the point that many of our offices are still open and we encourage people to go to our offices if they need support," he said.
"But in addition to that, whilst we encourage people to lodge claims for the Disaster Recovery Payment online, there's also our phone service available and the number there is 180 22 66."
Millions already paid out
The Disaster Recovery Payment is now available to people who live in the 35 local government councils across NSW and Queensland that have been flooded.
The one-off payment provides $1,000 to adults and $400 to children.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said this morning that 145,000 claims had been made so far.
Services Australia has paid out $63 million so far and Mr Jongen said he expects millions more dollars will follow.
"I think [this amount of disaster recovery payments] is largely unprecedented," he said.
There is also a Disaster Recovery Allowance available to employees, small business owners and farmers who can not work due to the floods.
It provides 13 weeks of financial support, which is taxable.
