After a weekend of rapidly changing advice in Victoria, childcare centres and outside school hours care are closed, except for families where one parent is an authorised worker with a permit, and for vulnerable children.

In New South Wales and the ACT, parents have been strongly encouraged to keep their kids home unless they are unable to care for them at home.

With centre operators on the brink, the federal government stepped in on Monday with financial support for early learning centres and outside school hours care.

Today on Please Explain, federal political reporter Katina Curtis joins Bianca Hall to discuss the situation facing childcare providers and families.